Fewer, Not Less

You're probably aware of the fact- but ignore it- that the executive functioning part of your brain (the part that "thinks") can only focus on one thing at one time.​

You have only one slot. One stick of RAM, one drill bit, one spell slot-

One. Thing.

Sure, you can replace the thing in the slot quickly, aka multitasking, but it's empirically a bad idea if you want to get something done well or effectively.

(You're going to multitask anyways, so let's move on)

When running a meeting, everyone sitting around the table or in the Zoom call also can only focus on one thing at a time. As a leader, it's on you to make it easy for people to focus on you and your message.

Unfortunately, you have a lot going for you that makes it easy for YOU to focus on the content:

• You know what the agenda is
• You know the broader context of how this meeting is supposed to support a larger strategy
• You (should) know what needs to be achieved and when it needs to be done
• You've had time to generate curiosity on a topic
• You know you won't be fired for sharing a contradictory opinion

I've sat in lots of meetings where the presenter went too fast, did not provide enough context, and expected too much from meeting participants, and then was surprised that the team didn't understand it all.

🖐 I've been that person, too.

With my lingering New Years Resolution Energy, I'm trying to be more aware of this cognitive limit. I'm trying to achieve fewer goals, simplify choices, summarize more, and reduce clutter. I'm saying No to plenty of good things so I can say Yes to a few great things.

However, fewer doesn't mean doing less.

There's a slight but huge difference between doing fewer things versus doing less. Back to the meeting example:

• Instead of presenting an agenda of 6-8 bullet points, summarize the agenda into 3 categories, such as "Context, Discussion, Action Planning."
  • This will make it easier to signpost how team members should behave. Context phase is to seek understanding, Discussion is to, uh, discuss, and Action Planning is to refine options and take ownership.
• Before a discussion, ask team members to take a minute to collect/write their thoughts about a topic, rather than jump into a conversation.
  • This will make it easier for your slower processing team members to participate and so your faster thinkers can refine their contributions.
• Reduce meeting times by 1/6th (hour long meeting becomes 50 minutes, 30 minute meeting becomes 25 minutes, etc.) and invest that reserved time into summarizing and sharing key points from the conversation.
  • This will make it easier for the team to take action, rather than having to recall and summarize themselves. And no, AI summaries aren't good enough to do this for you, but it can help you get 80% there.

What are some more ways that you can embrace the power of Fewer, versus succumb to the malaise of Less? Join in the conversation on LinkedIn and share your own focus strategies or prioritization tips.

A TL;DR from the CRO

Please don't take fewer walks because it's cold out, just make them a little less long.

-Roman Noodles, Chief Ruff Officer

TL;DR from the Archive: The Presentation and Script For Proposing an Offsite

Now that the year has started, if your team isn't planning an offsite to start the year strong then now's the time to convince senior leaders to start a fresh year on a fresh foot. Download our presentation deck and use these talking points to convince your team to plan a corporate offsite.

ROCK TUMBLING UPDATE

My rock tumbler barrel Rock Hudson has been rolling green mossy agates for over a month now. They're in for their final polish round when this newsletter is being posted out.

I've been trying to be a wee bit more scientific in tracking what exactly I'm doing with each batch, so here's some super scientific descriptions of how they've looked over time:

• Dec 6: Defect & pits, Funky edges
• Dec 14: Semi-smooth, but a ways to go
• Dec 23: Some "bad wrinkles" that are rough
• Jan 6: Round edges, still interesting shapes
• Jan 14: Oh they're ready

Hopefully "Oh you're ready" for your final polish,

Dan from Learn to Scale​

​Opt-out from the newsletter | Unsubscribe from all emails | Update your Preferences | www.learntoscale.us, Boston, MA 02119

​PS. There's nothing quite as crushing as having a friend be perfect at whistling for the first time​