Plus One vs Done

“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.” – Peter Drucker

Plus One vs Done

Last week, I heard a story about success coach Brendon Burchard. His former marketing lead shared something interesting. During team meetings, Brendon always asked everyone to make each idea a little better. “How can we ‘plus one’ this?” To his credit, he even asked this of his own ideas. 

This “plus one” idea is powerful. Small improvements add up over time. James Clear famously observed that if you get 1 percent better each day, you’ll be 37 times better at the end of the year. I subscribe to Clear’s philosophy of “continuous improvement” and try to surround myself with people with ”plus one” attitudes. 

At the same time, it can be its own kind of rat race. When I shared the “plus one” story with my wife, she replied, “I love that. And it also sounds completely exhausting!” She’s right. James Clear also says, “The most invisible form of wasted time is doing a good job on an unimportant task.” 

Optimize what’s important and let the rest go. 

My team has been in a season where we’ve faced a unique series of challenges and converging deadlines. We’ve had to prioritize with near pathological ruthlessness. The hours have been long and there simply isn’t time to do it all, much less do it all to our usual “plus one” standards. For people who take pride in doing great work, it’s hard to relax our standards. I’ve taken up a new mantra, “Done is good, and good is great.” I repeat it to them and myself.  This is a season of progress over perfection. 

It pays to perfect the things that matter most. But when we optimize the unimportant, we waste our time. Time is a limited resource. When we lavish it on trivial things, we deny it from our true priorities. Give your energy to the things that matter. And remember, sometimes done is good, and good is great. 

One question to ponder in your thinking time: How can I invest the majority of my time and effort in my true priorities?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent