A More Focused Life

I was on my way home from work today and I passed by a house. There was an edger (one of those little lawnmower like devices with a blade at a 90 degree angle to the ground used to trim the edge of a lawn next to a sidewalk) sitting on the sidewalk, and a car being washed in the drive way. I thought it was humorous. The home owner started out by edging his yard, then as he was cleaning off his edger decided that the car needed cleaning, but rather than putting the edger away he just went straight to washing the car and left the edger where it was. It made me think about a book I had read recently and one of the principles the author talks about. The author wrote about something he called a Hedgehog diagram (the image above, also known as a Venn diagram). The author applies this diagram to businesses and the three things that each business has focused on to achieve greatness as an organization. Since I've always kind of been a "jack-of-all-trades" kind of person the use of the diagram in my personal life intrigued me. In the current job market it seems that person who has expertise in a specific area is the one that gets rewarded. The Hedgehog diagram looked like a good way to focus my attention on a few interests and get much better at a few things. What I didn’t realize was that those three circles were one of the most difficult things I have faced in a long time. The idea behind the diagram appears to be very simple. The author explains it a bit differently but here are my modified rules for the diagram: 1. Choose the three that you want to focus on, 2. Those three things are all you focus on, nothing else, 3. The diagram encompasses all aspects of your life including work and family. Now I'm sure some of you already have your three and I'm sure they are excellent, but let me explain a few things. This diagram takes all of the things you do already and cuts out all but three. If you chose to add your profession and family then you already have two filled. A few of you may have circles already filled due to various obligations, but most will have at least one circle free. So in all the other things that you do what is the one thing that you want to focus on? Not a fun question to answer is it? If you have seen my resume or know me even a little, then you know that I have a fairly wide range of skills and interests: programming, my Jeep, photography, computer games, soccer, cycling, and the list goes on. How do you choose? Why would you want to? One word… Focus. It’s not about becoming the absolute best at something (although it can lead to that). It’s about evaluating choices based on the hedgehog diagram. It keeps you from going out into the yard to edge the driveway and end up washing the car while leaving the edger in the street, metaphorically speaking. I used to own a web design business and I loved the name I chose, Driven Web. I don’t know that many people understood why I chose it, but if you look up the definition of driven in a dictionary it says, “to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.” Many of us choose to be pulled in an infinite number of directions. We don’t ever "strive vigorously" toward anything. We end up good at so many things that we never experience greatness at any one thing. What three things could you focus on? If you have to think about it in reverse, how much extra “stuff” could be cut out if you chose to focus only on three things? If you’re interested in the book I read it’s called “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. It’s a business book, but if you have any interest in understanding the move from good to great many of the principles he talks about can be applied to everyday life.