- Shiny object syndrome is going one inch deep and ten feet wide.
- Your team gets fatigued when you keep throwing new things at them.
- The filter: does this move us meaningfully toward one of our big goals?
- Every idea gets pitched before it gets worked on.
On this page
One inch wide, ten feet deepWhat it does to your teamYou need a filterMake people pitchThen go deepHey, business owner. No, it’s not a good idea to do the new thing. You’ve got shiny object syndrome. Something pops up. You’re working on something, you sell keychains, and all of a sudden you read about something online and you think, yeah, I should do that. That would be helpful.
Whatever the most important thing is today, that’s the mole that pops up, and you whack it. That’s the fire, and you put that one out. You are constantly chasing whatever the most important thing is today. You are not focused.
One inch wide, ten feet deep
What’s happening is you’re going one inch deep and ten feet wide. You’re just doing a bunch of things average. You need to go one inch wide and ten feet deep.
This is why business models like In-N-Out work really well. Burgers, fries and shakes. Simplicity is leverage. When you are only focused on the keychain, you make it the best keychain you can think of. How do I service it? How do I market it? You are not distracted.
Simplicity is leverage.
What it does to your team
If you’re constantly throwing grenades into your business, everyone around you is going to be fatigued. They’re going to be tired, because you are a ready, fire, aim kind of leader. Sometimes you are the one making people distracted.
You need a filter
Your business doesn’t need more ideas. It needs a way to make sure bad ideas don’t get in. Somebody throws something into the mix, and you start working on something you never really should have started working on. You need a way to filter bad ideas while keeping people moving in the direction you want them to go.
So you set your big goals. Then the only things that get worked on are things that make it through a filter. And that filter is: does it move us meaningfully toward one of these big goals? If it doesn’t, it’s a shiny object. We’re not doing it. If it does, it can enter execution, and then we track it.
- ✓Ties to a big goal: Raise gross margin
- ✓Says what will be done by month end
- ✓You can tell at month end whether it worked
- ✓Gives a real reason it is needed
Make people pitch
When people submit their ideas, they have to pitch them. How does this move us meaningfully toward the goal? Which goal are we moving toward with this? And what is the objective outcome? What are we getting out of this when it’s done?
In Unbreakable OS, the pitch goes through an AI gatekeeper first. I essentially created a proxy of how I think when I analyze something, to sniff test your bad ideas or your team’s bad ideas. It’s going to say: this is not objective enough. I need more data. It’s not specific. It’s not meaningfully moving you toward your goal.
Then go deep
At the end of the month, was it executed or was it failed? Then you rinse and repeat. What you’re going to do is stack up wins and stack up momentum, working on things that actually matter. You’re driving outcomes instead of managing tasks.
So take it from a recovering shiny object syndrome sufferer. Focus on what you have in front of you, and do it excellently.
