#14 Playing Up - Commandments 2 and 3
The deep dive continues. This is another section of the December 2020 direct mail Letter. Get caught up with the intro to “Playing Up” and the First Commandment:
Playing Up: Introduction and Commandment 1
Okay.
Onward.
Commandment 2: Never Sell “Effort”.
Law 30: Make your accomplishments seem effortless
- Robert Greene, 48 Laws of Power
Here is the mental frame most people use to sell themselves:
“I’ll work really hard for you”
Admirable. But watering the weeds in the sense that the top 10% do not want you to work hard for them. They want you to get the job done well.
Here is a frame that will weed out the top 10% from everyone else:
“Do you want me to work hard for you? Or do you want to win?”
These are two very, very different things.
And like the example from Commandment 1, it can repel the 90%. They still glorify effort and haven't figured out how to win yet. But the top 10% have.
And they'll be interested.
Consider Daniel Rueeiger, the star of the motivational film “Rudy”. At 5’6 165 lbs Rudy harbored the dream of playing for the Notre Dame Football Team. His story is legendary for the hard work he put forth. Through determination and hard work he saw the field for three plays.
It’s a great story.
But here’s the reality:
The NFL never came knocking.
We admire people like Rudy that are out there grinding all day and through the night. First to show up, last to leave. And we root for them, because we want them to be rewarded for their effort. But when the game is on line - when it matters we want the best players on the field. Whoever increases the odds of winning the most get paid the most.
When the men and women at the top of their field want to get shit done; they turn to the people that will… well, get it done. They don't care how many hours it takes, just that it's done and done well.
Long hours may be required to get the job done - they often are - but it’s the results that drive value. Value is combination of quality, speed and complexity - the higher the quality, the greater the value to the buyer. The faster it’s done, the greater the value to the buyer. The less complex it is for them, the higher the value.
The best way to get shit done faster, improve the quality and drive down the complexity is to have better tools.
Think about this:
If you tie your worth or value to effort you are incentivized to de-leverage yourself. Leverage allows you to get more done with the same or less effort. If you make the mistake of believing greater effort equals more value you will not be looking for leverage, you will be repelling it.
Leverage is good. To spot or engineer it, we must focus on results, not effort.
Never sell effort.
And…
Commandment 3: Always Be Sharpening The Axe.
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
- Abraham Lincoln
You can chop down a bigger tree with less effort if you have a sharper axe. A chess grandmaster makes better moves than an amateur player. He also makes them faster and with less effort.
You can deliver better results, to bigger clients with less effort if you have the sharpest tools. They pay more because their problems are bigger. The most powerful tools are clarity of thought and fundamental frameworks.
He or she with the clearest thinking and most consistent frameworks will get the job done best.
Most entrepreneurs, especially the “hustle” crowd are stuck in “swinging the axe” mode.
They are so afraid of falling behind they never take the time to sharpen the axe. Subsequently, they slowly fall further and further behind those that do. As the axe becomes dull the returns diminish. As the returns diminish, more hours are required to get the same amount of work done. As they work more hours, they are more susceptible to cognitive distortions - cloudy thinking - and mistakes.
We must always be sharpening the axe.
The best way, in my opinion, to "sharpen the axe" is laid out in commandment four.
For now, I encourage you to look at your calendar and make sure you have set aside to refine the skills that will increase your capacity to produce tomorrow. Here’s a few questions to get your brain going:
How can I increase the quality of what I do significantly more than the increase in effort it would take to do it?
How can I increase the speed of what I do significantly more than the increase in effort it would take to do it?
How can I reduce the complexity to the buyer significantly more than the increase in effort it would take to do it?
Notice: we aren’t necessarily looking to put forth less effort. Instead, we are looking for outsized returns on our effort.
Leverage.
Some other insights on Commandments 1-3:
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I will still be making videos based on daily conversations. Here is a short clip from a video I made last night (YouTube Short) after getting off a call with a real estate company. It explains how and why I make videos - it’s probably not for the reason(s) you think.