Adding and Subtracting

Over the next few weeks I want to highlight several of John Naisbitt's mindsets that I listed several days ago.

10. Don’t add unless you subtract: Never throw more balls than you can juggle.

Number 10 is so critical. It is a very hard one for innovators for a simple reason. Innovators tend to be overly optimistic dreamers that are reaching beyond the limits that others set. That great blessing of optimism also tends to mean that innovators don't know how to say no.

Mindset 10 is all about priorities. If we are to be holistic innovators like we talk about in Innovation in Mission, we must be able to manage those things we are focused on. Naisbitt says that if we discipline ourselves to only take on so many things, then when we want to add a new one to the list, we have to evaluate which of the current ones we will drop.

This discipline of adding and subtracting allows us to focus on what is really important and to use that entreprenureal spirit to follow through on key innovations.

How many things are you juggling today?