So I sat down the other day and pulled out one of my many books that are on my bookshelf that are in my “to read pile” and this one happened to be by Seth Godin.
I literally consumed this book in about 20 minutes (seriously, think the Cookie Monster sitting down to some Mrs Fields Triple Chocolate Cookies) - It’s really short, like 100 or so pages, and the pages are not even full pages, but it’s probably one of the best 20 minutes I’ve ever spent.
Basically Seth discusses the quality, or lack thereof, of quitting, when to quit, and why.
I don’t believe he wrote the book for any other reason than to get people thinking, there is no specific ‘action list’ that you can really take away from it, but what it does, is gets you thinking about your focus, your direction, and what you are currently doing.
It made me think about the many things we do, the many sites we have, and the division of focus that it creates. While we have a fantastic team, both in house and our outsourcing guys, and members and clients who are extremely patient, the fact is, we do them all a disservice by putting to much on our plates.
This next month or two for us is going to be a refinement of our focus, cutting off some of our sites, either selling them or just dumping them. Making sure what we have currently is running as Marc likes to say “tickety boo” (basically means running like a well oiled machine).
If you have the chance to pick this book up, I highly recommend it, it’s one of those books that is definitely worth the money, and the time it takes to read.
Daniel
Popularity: 30% [?]
Daniel,
I agree with you on this one. I read this book last summer and actually led a discussion with our company managers on it. I showed the segment of the movie Forrest Gump where Forrest and Lt. Dan piloted their shrimp boat during a storm and being the only shrimp boat left standing - which led to massive success.
I think it pays to focus time and energy on what you are good at and quit the things you are not.
Keep up the intelligent reading,
- Dave
That’s music to my ears Dan. We all know you guys consistently provide a tremendous amount of value, much more than is expected, but it’s obvious that you’re spreading yourselves too thin and inevitably the service is suffering. I’m looking forward to this streamlined and well-oiled machine!