The other evening I sat with a client in my office in a now empty building. For only the second time in eight years, the building lost power. As we sat by my one and only window, we muscled through our work on a specific speech. A little challenge arose when the bathroom was needed that has no window for alternate light. Cell phone came in handy.
Amidst almost trying circumstances, an interesting revelation was revealed. This client contends that as a company or an individual, you can only do one thing well.
I have long believed that multi-tasking was a myth, like a unicorn. It would be nice if it existed, but it does not. How many times have you missed an exit because you thought you could talk on the phone AND listen to Waze or GPS? How many times have you burned something on the stove because you thought you could prepare dinner and . . . ?
This was a different take, the next level of thinking. I know from personal experience that a steak house does not do vegetarian well. When you want specific heart health you go to a cardiologist not your family doctor.
Yet we tend to think we as a person or an office, a firm or a company can do many things well. Can we?
Would we be better off to identify the one thing we do and do it really well? To most of us that means saying no to some things we are asked to do. We want to say YES whether out of ego or financial need. Should we say NO when it is not the one thing we do really well? The old cliché was niche and grow rich.
Look around at other people and businesses. What one thing does each do really well? It is so much easier to see what others do well and not so well.
If you were to decide to do one thing and do it really well, how would you identify what you do the best? Hint, you probably can’t. Not without an honest mirror and honest others.
