If you chase two rabbits, both will get away.
“Concentration is the key to economic results. No other principle of effectiveness is violated as constantly today.” – Peter Drucker
The quality in detail
Four steps through the quality: understand, check, connect, apply. Open any topic to read more.
The core messageWhat the quality means – and what it doesn’t
If you concentrate your energy on a few goals, you achieve more than someone chasing many at once. Focus means keeping your attention where it has the greatest effect.
- It does not mean
- That you may only have a single goal. Several goals are possible – one after another or clearly weighted, not all at once at full strength.
- That you should stay stubborn when circumstances change. Focus includes checking the goal and realigning when needed.
- Strictly speaking
- There is good experimental evidence that every switch between tasks costs time and that thoughts linger on the previous task. Whether heavy multitasking makes people more distractible in the long run, however, has not been consistently confirmed.
- Focus tells you how to stay with a goal, not which goal is the right one. For that you need priorities and a vision.
- Applies to
- A company’s strategy, to a church’s priorities, to the club with too many projects and to your own day between work, family and volunteering.
The explanationWhat the quality means and why it matters
A well-known image sums it up: even an average fighter becomes strong when they concentrate their attention like a laser.
Without focus, people in positions of responsibility spread themselves too thin and rob themselves of their impact – in their own working week as much as on a team or in the strategy of an entire organization.
The signs3 signs the quality is present · 3 that it is missing
- You keep set times free for the most important work and protect them from interruptions.
- Anyone who works with you – on a project, on the team or across the whole area – can say in one sentence what matters right now.
- You turn down good ideas when they distract from the main goal – in strategy and budget too – and say openly why.
- You keep starting new things, and much is left half-finished.
- In conversations you read messages on the side, and the other person notices.
- Every week you set a new priority, and the people around you no longer know where they stand.
The research5 sources: 3 primary studies, 1 theory, 1 review · 1997–2009 · with the limits of the research
- low
- moderate
- high
High – Task switching, attention, goal specificity.
- 1997William Ocasio
Firm behavior follows from where decision makers direct their limited attention.
- 2001Joshua S. Rubinstein, David E. Meyer & Jeffrey E. Evans
Every task switch costs time; the costs rise with complexity.
- 2002Edwin A. Locke & Gary P. Latham
Specific goals direct attention and effort toward what is goal-relevant.
- 2009Sophie Leroy
Attention residue from the previous task reduces performance on the next.
- 2009Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass & Anthony D. Wagner
Heavy media multitaskers are more easily distracted.
The costs of task switching are experimentally well supported. The media multitasking finding was not consistently confirmed in follow-up studies.
The originJohn C. Maxwell · “Focus”
- 1999OriginJohn C. Maxwell
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Quality 8
- FocusIn essence: Whoever directs time and energy to what is essential becomes effective; whoever spreads themselves too thin loses their impact.
- todayWEGVISOR: Focus
The WEGVISOR version, the quality of “Focus”, captures this in the proverb “If you chase two rabbits, both will get away.” The costs of task switching are well documented; but the proverb does not rule out pursuing several goals one after another.
The related qualities and lawsL16 Big Mo · L17 Priorities · Q03 Commitment · L05 Picture
Focus creates momentum: concentrated energy brings visible successes that carry you further. If you spread yourself too thin, no momentum builds.
Priorities determine what is important; focus keeps you there. Together they separate productivity from mere busyness.
Commitment binds you to a goal, focus keeps your attention on it. Without focus, commitment quickly becomes a promise you don’t keep.
The people around you see where you direct your attention. If you stay focused, that becomes the standard; if you jump around, they jump with you.
The action points5 stages of growth – from first awareness to passing it on
- Become aware For one working day, make a tally mark every time you are pulled away from your actual task, and in the evening simply look at what distracted you most often.
- Lay the foundations Set one single main goal for this week and resolve: if a request doesn't serve it, I will politely say no or postpone it.
- Make it a habit Block a distraction-free window at the same time every day for your most important project, and check on Fridays how often you actually defended it.
- Deepen deliberately Hold on to your one priority even in the most hectic phase of the month, drop one ongoing side project for it, and ask two people you work closely with where they see you spreading yourself too thin.
- Pass it on Each month, agree with the people you work with – in a project, in volunteer work or on your team – on the one priority that truly counts, and encourage everyone to decline tasks that don't serve it; if you lead, give them the explicit right to do so.
The reflection questions5 questions for you or a conversation with others
- Which two rabbits am I chasing at the same time right now?
- How much undisturbed time did I have this week for what matters most?
- Which project – mine or one in my area of responsibility – should I end or pause so that something else can succeed?
- How do the people around me notice that I’m fully present with them?
- Do the people I work with, my church or my family know what matters most to me right now?
Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.
The picture to rememberScattered energy converges into a single focal point.
- Scattered energy converges into a single focal point.
What focus looks like in practice
Nonviolent all the way to the goal
Gandhi was repeatedly jailed, mocked and met with violence – yet he never abandoned nonviolence. Through civil disobedience and actions like the Salt March, he pursued one single goal for years: India’s independence.
From one burger stand to 40,000 restaurants
Ray Kroc saw a global concept in the McDonald brothers’ fast, standardized restaurant. He bet everything on franchising and expansion, realized McDonald’s could also be a real estate business, and in the end even parted ways with the founders.
How Marius gave Rome a professional army
Gaius Marius opened the Roman army to landless citizens, standardized equipment and introduced strict training – against the resistance of the elite. With the new army he defeated the Cimbri and Teutones and was elected consul seven times.
