1. The document discusses the importance of focus on personal, organizational, and strategic levels. 2. It provides examples of how to achieve focus personally through time blocking, limiting distractions, and identifying highest value activities. 3. Organizationally, it recommends tactics like using OKRs, embracing constraints, and focusing on decisions rather than execution. 4. Strategically, it suggests using frameworks like Wardley Maps to identify the right areas to focus on in a company's value chain.

1. Focus, Focus, Focus
The one thing that makes a difference
Stephan Schmidt übercto

2. Follow me on Twitter!
@codemonkeyism
to comment this talk

4. Harry Stebbings, Twenty Minute VC

5. Focus distinguishes
‘me too’ from success.

6. Focus is not time management
or about efficiency.

7. YOU
Marketing
Sales
Product Tech
Finance
Your
reports
YourCompany
Investors
Partners
Customers Affiliates
If you don’t steer, others will steer you
Friends
Operations
focus defocus

10. YOU
Marketing
Sales
Product Tech
Finance
Your
reports
YourCompany
Investors
Partners
Customers Affiliates
If you don’t steer, others will steer you
Friends
Operations
focus defocus

11. + More people
+ More ideas
+ More goals
+ Pressure to keep people occupied
= Working on too many + wrong things

12. Most
companies do
not focus.

13. FOCUS,
FOCUS,
FOCUS!

14. IF ONLY!

15. Why can’t we focus?
transformer

16. We do too much.

17. We are distracted.

18. We focus on the wrong things.

19. Focus is more than not being
distracted.
How and where to focus?
What is focus?

20. I can’t focus because others …

21. Wikipedia CC A 3.0

22. Companies and people need to focus
on several levels.

23. Focus Pyramid
Strategic
Organizational
Personal

24. 25 Focus Areas
for more details

25. Personal Organizational Strategic
1. Not Motivation but
Discipline to focus
2. Highest Value
Activities
3. Take the right
breaks
4. Focus on minutes
(1440)
5. Work theme for a
day
6. Block time
7. Focus is a muscle /
train focus
8. Eliminate
distraction
9. What would Elon
Musk do?
1. Focus in meetings
2. OKR
3. Say no culture
4. Do less
5. The Simplicity ->
Alignment ->
Focus Circle
6. Focus on decisions
not execution
7. Focus on impact
8. Embrace
constraints
9. Important vs.
Urgent
1. PST/Phase
2. ValueMap Areas
(Wardley)
3. H3 Horizon/ Visual
Portfolio
Management
4. Strategy where not
how
5. Innovation Fence
6. Have a why
7. What kind of
company are you?
Focus Levels and Areas

26. Personal Organizational Strategic

27. 1. Everyone agrees on what is important.
2. Tasks support important goals.
3. Alignment happens, meaning all parts
support the overall goals of the
organization.
4. People self-correct and change direction.
5. Results occur.
How does Focus look like?

28. 1. Not Motivation but Discipline to focus
2. Highest Value Activities
3. Take the right breaks
4. Focus on minutes (1440)
5. Work theme for a day
6. Block Time
7. Focus is a muscle / train focus
8. Eliminate distraction
9. What would Elon Musk do?
Personal Focus

29. Wear one of these.

30. “Screw motivation, what you need is
discipline.” – The Internet

31. “Focus is a muscle”
Connor O'Leary at TEDxUIUC

33. 1440

34. “Block Time
in your calendar”
Devin Wenig,
CEO eBay

36. 1. Focus in meetings
2. OKR
3. Say no culture
4. Do less
5. Simplicity over Complexity
6. Focus on decisions not execution
7. Focus on impact
8. The Simplicity -> Alignment -> Focus
Circle
Organizational Focus

37. • The best meetings inspire, align people, and generate
value.
• Don't go to meetings
– you see no sense in
– status meetings
– without an agenda
– which are too long
• Meetings for
– Conflict
– Decision
– Coordination
• 15 minutes meetings
• Ask people to prepare in advance for meetings
Focus in Meetings

39. "That's been one of my
mantras –
focus and simplicity.” -
Steve Jobs

42. "Focusing is about
saying no”
Steve Jobs

43. “People think focus means saying yes to the
thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what
it means at all. It means saying no to the
hundred other good ideas that there are. You
have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of
the things we haven’t done as the things I have
done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
– Steve Jobs

45. “I’d rather have a first-
rate execution and
second-rate strategy
any time”
Jamie Dimon,
CEO of JPMorgan Chase

46. “… execution is the key
to a strategy’s success
- is as flawed as it is
popular.”
Professor Roger L. Martin, The
ExecutionTrap, 2009

47. Decision process Development
Time is lost here …
… but everyone focuses here
What everyone does wrong

48. Decision process Development
FOCUS here!
What everyone does wrong

49. Project 2
Project 3
Project 4
Project 5
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Project 4
Project 5
Project 1
Time Time
* Or as fast as the task is parallelizable
FOCUS!
NO FOCUS!

50. Project 2
Project 3
Project 4
Project 5
Project 1
Project 1.2
Project 1.3
Project 1.4
Project 1…
Project 1.1
Time Time
* Or as fast as the task is parallelizable
FOCUS!
NO FOCUS!

51. When to Focus On a Project
Model: Reinersten 1998
Top management
possible impact
Top management
focus
Time

52. When to Focus On a Project
Model: Reinersten 1998
Top management
possible impact
Top management
focus
Time
Highest
FOCUS

53. When to Focus On a Project
Model: Reinersten 1998
Top management
possible impact
Top management
focus
Time
FOCUS
HERE!

54. "That's been one of my
mantras –
focus and simplicity.” -
Steve Jobs

55. eventsofa
Sales Product Marketing
OrganizersVenues ConversionRequests
Traffic

56. Alignment
Focus
Simplicity

57. Simplify priorities
(and then simplify again)

58. Simplicity over Complexity

59. Urgency kills your Focus.

60. Urgent vs. Important

61. URGENT NOT URGENT
IMPORTANT DO
Do it now.
DECIDE
Schedule a time
to do it
NOT IMPORTANT DELEGATE
Who can do it to
you?
DELETE
Eliminate it.
“What is important is seldom urgent and what is
urgent is seldom important.”
- Dwight Eisenhower
The Eisenhower Box

62. 1. PST/Phase
2. ValueMap (Wardley) Areas
3. H3 Horizon/ Visual Portfolio Management
4. Strategy where not how
5. Have a innovation fence
6. Have a why
7. What kind of company are you?
Strategic Focus

63. CommonNovelUbiquity
Demand
Unknown
Defined
Certainty
Supply
Commodity
Product
Custom Built
Genesis
Model: Simon Wardley

64. CommonNovelUbiquity
Demand
Unknown
Defined
Certainty
Supply
Commodity
Product
Custom Built
Genesis
Model: Simon Wardley
HERE!

65. Innovation Fence.

66. What is your why?

68. WHY
Golden Circle
HOW
WHAT
Model: Simon Sinek

69. Focus on 10x features!

70. Google X.
Flickr Cory Doctorow CC BY SA 2.0

71. Company Functions
UbiquityCommonNovel
Certainty HighLow
Maintain search
rank listing
Audit site usability
Capture product predictions
from information market
Capture customer request for service
Maintain office facilities
Recruit talent
Set budget
Manage payroll
Model:
Simon
Wardley

72. Company Functions
UbiquityCommonNovel
Certainty HighLow
Maintain search
rank listing
Audit site usability
Capture product predictions
from information market
Capture customer request for service
Maintain office facilities
Recruit talent
Set budget
Manage payroll
Model:
Simon
Wardley
HERE!

73. Companies have no clue what they are doing.

74. Strategy is not “78% of successful
companies …”

75. Strategy is about the WHERE and
WHY there,
the HOW, WHAT and WHEN follow.
Model: Simon Wardley

76. Strategy is about the WHERE and
WHY there,
the HOW, WHAT and WHEN follow.
FOCUS & ALIGN
HERE!
Model: Simon Wardley
Most focus on Action

77. How do we find the where?

78. Simon Wardley Value Maps.

79. Model: Simon Wardley
Customer
Value
Luck
Unicorn Inc.
Unicorns Website
API
CMS
Backend
ERP
Compute
Power
Value Chain Unicorn Inc.

80. Model: Simon Wardley
ValueChainVisibleInvisible
Genesis Custom
Built
Product
(+ rental)
Commodity
(+ utility) Evolution
Leasure Time
Customer
Website
& Mobile
Content
Matching
Engine
Backend
CMS
Compute
Power
Email
Search
Sales
ERP
Payment
Uncharted
Industrialized
CRM
Luck
Unicorn Inc.
Chat Bot
Unicorns
Unicorn
Finder
API

81. Model: Simon Wardley
ValueChainVisibleInvisible
Genesis Custom
Built
Product
(+ rental)
Commodity
(+ utility) Evolution
Leasure Time
Customer
Website
& Mobile
Content
Matching
Engine
Backend
CMS
Compute
Power
Email
Search
Sales
ERP
Payment
Uncharted
Industrialized
CRM
Luck
Unicorn Inc.
Chat Bot
Unicorns
Unicorn
Finder
API
HERE!

82. From: Markus Andrezak

83. How to slice time?

85. Watering Can Principle
Sales
20%
Marketing
20%
Product
20%
Tech
20%
Other
20%

86. Watering Can Principle
Sales
20%
Networking
20%
Work
20%
Accounting
20%
Other
20%

87. What kind of company are YOU?

88. What kind of company are you?
.. then why act
like this?
If you want to
be this …

89. All Support the Main Effort
Hockey
Stick
Effort
80%
Must do
20%
Marketing
Customer
Support
Sales

90. What kind of company are you?
.. then why act
like this?
If you are this
…

91. Focus on survival!

92. All Support the Main Effort
Hockey Stick
Effort
80%
Must do
20%
Marketing
Customer
Support
Sales
Survival
Survival

94. Marc Andreesen
“Software is
eating the world”

95. Panasonic is selling future software.

96. Nikon doesn’t understand software.

97. Nikon doesn’t understand software.

98. Focus Pyramid
Strategic
Organizational
Personal

99. • Focus is the difference between success
and me too
• Focus on different levels is needed
• Personal, Organizational and Strategic
Focus
• Start with Personal focus.
• Focus is a (personal and organizational)
muscle.
Take Aways

100. If everything fails, CALL ME ASAP.
Flickr Cory Doctorow CC BY SA 2.0

101. You did follow
@codemonkeyism
on Twitter didn’t you?
Psst, just do it now
I won’t tell ;-)
stephan@ubercto.de