People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of many of the things we haven't done as the things we have done. - Steve Jobs, as quoted in In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the best ideas have something missing.

The book's author, Matthew E. May, offered some great ideas and insights on designs and the 4 keys to elegant design (symmetry, seduction, subtraction, sustainability) during his show on BlogTalk Radio. You can listen here. 

During the show Matt referenced a parallel idea shared in a recent interview in Time with Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. The article is titled: How Mighty Companies Fall.  The idea Jim shares is the idea of a stop-doing list:

You say one key to being successful today is developing "a ferocious understanding of what you're not going to do." What do you mean?

As I got into my research, I saw that those who were really effective made use of not just a "to-do" list but a "stop-doing" list.

How does this apply to us? Let's answer these questions:

  • What are we going to say no to today?
  • What are we going to stop doing today?

Our answers compile a list of obstacles to our effectiveness.

What's left off those lists is where and how we can be effective.

Thanks, Matt.

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