Focus is scary—until you realize that it only means turning your back on markets you could never have anyway. Sharp focus on jobs that customers are trying to get done holds the promise of greatly improving the odds of success in new-product development.
Interpretation
Focus helps eliminate distractions and increases the chances of success in product development.
This quote emphasizes the importance of focus in product development. By concentrating on the specific needs of customers and overlooking the myriad of other possibilities, businesses can greatly enhance their chances of success in creating products that fulfill real demands. Thus, it suggests that real clarity comes from prioritizing the right tasks and ignoring all others that do not align with customer needs.
In practice
In a business presentation about product strategy, this quote can serve as a reminder to keep the team's efforts aligned with customer demand.
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Don't worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.
Whenever we have thanked these men and women for what they have done for us, without exception they have expressed gratitude for having the chance to help - because they grew as they served.
Intimate, loving, and enduring relationships with our family and close friends will be among the sources of the deepest joy in our lives.
I've long believed that if you're not embarrassed by your first product release, you've released too late.
The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause.
The success [of Mary Kay Inc.] is much, much deeper than just dollars and cents and buildings and assets. The real success of our Company is measured to me in the lives that have been touched and given hope.
The two are not mutually exclusive, but we think we can have wealth without good ideas and without values and without a clear vision. Wealth without vision is insanity.
Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from champions, therefore, are those that have rich support network so their pioneers will flourish. This point is so important it's hard to overstress. No support systems, no champions. No champions, no innovations.
It is, after all, the dab of grit that seeps into an oyster's shell that makes the pearl, not pearl-making seminars with other oysters.
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