The “Main Thing” Thing

Stephen Covey passed away this week. Famous for his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey became well-known for his views on building values and principles into you daily life, at home and at work. He published 4 books, ran a successful seminar program, and founded the Covey Leadership Center.

It seems appropriate, therefore, to return to an underlying theme that runs through both his writing and mine: A clear focus beats a shotgun approach every time.

I had a conversation with a another consultant recently, and I came away surprised. I asked about his work, and he told me about the variety of projects he handles. I was waiting for his concise Aural Business Card (Click Here for post ), but instead I got paragraphs about his services, covering:

• HR and labor issues
• Team building
• Family business succession, and
• Enterprise system implementation.

I was amazed / floored / skeptical / amused. This guy obviously didn't buy into my “Focus is Everything” philosophy, and I didn't try to convert him.

I was reminded, however, of that great line penned by Stephen Covey:

The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.

What a fabulous piece of writing. And, as you may have read in an earlier post (Click Here for post) I absolutely agree. The secret to long-term success in small business is FOCUS.

• Find one thing you do well,
• that customers are seeking,
• that the competition doesn't bother to do,
• and make that the “Main Thing.”

An executive's job is to see that the company resources (time, money, brainpower, management bandwidth, etc.) are focused on this primary objective and don't get squandered on unimportant side issues. The sales people will want to chase after the last deal that walked in the door. Manufacturing will want to produce new products that fit in with their production line. Product Development will want to design something new and cutting-edge. Everyone wants to head off in a different direction.

Its the boss's job to keep them together on the same path, and headed toward the same goal. It is hard to do, but fragmentation of effort will destroy your brand and your margins.

If you don't have a “Main Thing”, start looking now. Your competition may not have one either, but you should assume that they are working on it. (Andy Grove's book title said it all, “Only the Paranoid Survive.” But that's another post.)

Like the man said: “The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.”

Words to Live By!!

For more about Stephen Covey and his writing  Click Here.