What a terrific post this week Louie. Wondering how you reconcile not having a single point of failure with the need to have a single point of focus to succeed, as in the "One Thing" philosophy. I ask because after 40 years as an entrepreneur I have learned the need for both, diversification as well as commitment and focus, and it's a persistent, seemingly unsolvable challenge to juggle that many balls. It seems to me this is the perennial pain for every self-employed person. I was/am a professional speaker. That's been my sole income for a long time and pandemics have now been revealed as the undefended exhaust shoot built into the meeting industry. The covid years as a result were financially eviscerating for me. Now I'm back to being on the road with gigs, but looking to develop online income streams on the side. The effort to eliminate the single point of failure, however, spreads me so far and wide and thin that I feel like I am failing everywhere. I don't think I am saying anything unique or new, just wondering how you personally hold this dichotomy. For me, I just accept that it's hard, try not to beat myself up about it, and keep going.
Thank you for reading it Rick and sharing some of your story.
It seems like the the best things to have in life are quite paradoxical. Almost like they exist in two states at all times. We need to focus but we also need to be diversified.
And there is a hunger there too when we know we need to do something to survive.
I’m not sure I have the answers but I do know it’s helped me to timebox things focus heavily for a little while and see how well it plays out. A digital product or a piece of software shouldn’t take large chunks of my life to build otherwise it’s not worth the effort at this stage of my journey. Even if it’s a good idea, i’ve grown to accept that it might be a good idea for someone else to try it if it will take that long. Maybe at a later stage i’ll have appetite for those risks.
So I do think we need to reconcile that paradox somehow because both sides are true. We do need to focus intensely to create meaningful things and we do need to diversify. I tend to enjoy finding winners that can produce results with intense focus for a set period of time but don’t require permanent intense focus.
Thanks again for reading and the thoughtful comment.
It's my pleasure to read and engage with your content. I'm digesting the practicality of your observation that if building something digital requires too much effort, or ongoing maintenance, its not the right place to invest for you. I may be guilty of making things too hard. In fact, I'm almost sure of it. Every once in a while I run into an influencer who encourages us to ask, "what if it were easy?" I like that idea, but I seem to be wed to the idea that great things require great effort.
When I saw Star Wars the first time in a cinema, I was about eight, and more fascinated by the projector lighting up the Brownian motion of dust the cinema than I was watching the film! Maybe I’m in a minority of a handful. I have seen the other films, and I chuckled when you pointed out the single failure point. Some of my most fascinating conversations have been with mining engineers. Thanks for lifting the lid on this blind spot in the film for me!
Made me think of other areas in which we have "single points of failure" and how these areas develop the most convoluted systems because there's no way to push back. The most alarming that I could think of is our healthcare system. Too many people are dependent on a complicated system where you don't know what you're getting or how much anything costs.
Single point of failure. Once you've had this experience, you never look at work the same way again. My position on the conversation about GenZ and their "lack" of commitment to work is that many were the right age to watch their parents go through these impersonal layoffs in 2008. The companies that sucked their parents attention away from them with the promise of "always' ... then dumped them.
GenZ understands loyalty viscerally - to themselves first.
This edition is filled with hope alongside the dose of reality, and told appropriately to its tech & SciFi audience.
What a terrific post this week Louie. Wondering how you reconcile not having a single point of failure with the need to have a single point of focus to succeed, as in the "One Thing" philosophy. I ask because after 40 years as an entrepreneur I have learned the need for both, diversification as well as commitment and focus, and it's a persistent, seemingly unsolvable challenge to juggle that many balls. It seems to me this is the perennial pain for every self-employed person. I was/am a professional speaker. That's been my sole income for a long time and pandemics have now been revealed as the undefended exhaust shoot built into the meeting industry. The covid years as a result were financially eviscerating for me. Now I'm back to being on the road with gigs, but looking to develop online income streams on the side. The effort to eliminate the single point of failure, however, spreads me so far and wide and thin that I feel like I am failing everywhere. I don't think I am saying anything unique or new, just wondering how you personally hold this dichotomy. For me, I just accept that it's hard, try not to beat myself up about it, and keep going.
Thank you for reading it Rick and sharing some of your story.
It seems like the the best things to have in life are quite paradoxical. Almost like they exist in two states at all times. We need to focus but we also need to be diversified.
And there is a hunger there too when we know we need to do something to survive.
I’m not sure I have the answers but I do know it’s helped me to timebox things focus heavily for a little while and see how well it plays out. A digital product or a piece of software shouldn’t take large chunks of my life to build otherwise it’s not worth the effort at this stage of my journey. Even if it’s a good idea, i’ve grown to accept that it might be a good idea for someone else to try it if it will take that long. Maybe at a later stage i’ll have appetite for those risks.
So I do think we need to reconcile that paradox somehow because both sides are true. We do need to focus intensely to create meaningful things and we do need to diversify. I tend to enjoy finding winners that can produce results with intense focus for a set period of time but don’t require permanent intense focus.
Thanks again for reading and the thoughtful comment.
It's my pleasure to read and engage with your content. I'm digesting the practicality of your observation that if building something digital requires too much effort, or ongoing maintenance, its not the right place to invest for you. I may be guilty of making things too hard. In fact, I'm almost sure of it. Every once in a while I run into an influencer who encourages us to ask, "what if it were easy?" I like that idea, but I seem to be wed to the idea that great things require great effort.
"Of course, in Star Wars Rogue One, we learn that The Empire wasn't that dumb, but they got duped." This line had me rolling LOL.
Also, tech roasts are the best roasts.
Thank you for reading it Helen.
I had to tie in that twist from Rogue One.
Love how you tie Star Wars, Engineering and Life together - what a fun read!
Thank you 🙏 Chao! Seems like a big part of what makes writing fun is weaving together some of our favorite things to explain life’s tough conundrums.
When I saw Star Wars the first time in a cinema, I was about eight, and more fascinated by the projector lighting up the Brownian motion of dust the cinema than I was watching the film! Maybe I’m in a minority of a handful. I have seen the other films, and I chuckled when you pointed out the single failure point. Some of my most fascinating conversations have been with mining engineers. Thanks for lifting the lid on this blind spot in the film for me!
Made me think of other areas in which we have "single points of failure" and how these areas develop the most convoluted systems because there's no way to push back. The most alarming that I could think of is our healthcare system. Too many people are dependent on a complicated system where you don't know what you're getting or how much anything costs.
Single point of failure. Once you've had this experience, you never look at work the same way again. My position on the conversation about GenZ and their "lack" of commitment to work is that many were the right age to watch their parents go through these impersonal layoffs in 2008. The companies that sucked their parents attention away from them with the promise of "always' ... then dumped them.
GenZ understands loyalty viscerally - to themselves first.
This edition is filled with hope alongside the dose of reality, and told appropriately to its tech & SciFi audience.