Innovation Blog

Make a “Not-Do” List – And Make Time for Creativity

By Shlomo Maital

 In their latest Bloomberg Business Week “Innovation Engine” column,*  Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón quote Warren Buffet:

   “…the difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything!”

   As people “hunker down” worldwide to begin preparing their “to do” list for 2011, the authors recommend that we try a “not-do” list.  Make a “stop-doing” list.  What will you stop doing in 2011, to boost your happiness and your impact on the world?

   I did this myself a decade ago, after a serious illness.  After taking early retirement,  I pursued a policy of only doing things that either I really loved, or had the potential to make a difference to someone, or both.  I gave up using a cell phone.  Since creating a “stop doing” list (stop going to boring pointless lectures and conferences, stop writing pointless academic papers that no-one ever reads, stop teaching students who do not want to learn, stop wasting [negative] energy in battling bureaucrats or venting anger….), I have managed to product a book a year, write a regular column in a magazine, and launch a number of successful projects.   Note that a stop-doing list is not an act of selfishness.  Maybe of the things on my to-do list are aimed at helping other people and changing their lives.  Stop-doing is actually altruistic – it says, our time on earth is limited, if we waste it we will be far less able to change the world.

 “Stop-doing” is not just personal, it is managerial.  Innovation really ought to begin, as Peter Drucker pointed out 50 years ago, not with innovation, but with abandonment.  What should we STOP doing, so that we have energy and resources for new things?  Stop-doing is just another word for laser-sharp focus. 

    The authors conclude:

  “The best leaders have come to understand that the likelihood of market success is closely tied to how well they focus their teams’ attentions. You don’t want your big brains jumping from little challenge to little challenge. You want them laser-focused on the biggest challenges, the biggest opportunities, the most important company issues. When you can make this happen, you fulfill the promise of good leadership to your team. You also reward them with the efficiency and profits that make the business engine hum. You’ll find innovation will come easier. We promise.”

* The Innovation Engine December 7, 2010