Friday
Efficiency grid
Entrepreneurship is about creating choices, and then making choices. If you're ever stuck picking the right task to do next, the efficiency grid is the only tool you'll ever need.
What is the efficiency grid?
It's a simple two-by-two grid, with impact, gain, or importance on the Y axis; and the difficulty, challenge, or effort it takes to achieve it ont he X axis.
There are four quadrants
High Challenge, Low Impact: The questionable task. It's really hard, and you get little in return. Gross. Moving on!
High Challenge, High Impact: The moonshot. It's really hard, but there's a really big payoff. These are ok in the right circumstances, particularly when there are few other desirable options available, but it's hardly a go-to choice.
Low Challenge, Low Impact: The quick win. It's not very hard, but it doesn't give us too much in return. It's not the highest on our list, but it can deliver us some good stuff in short order. Good in a pinch.
Low Challenge, High Impact: The gold mine. It's not very hard, and it gives us that really big payoff. Yay! These can be hard to come by, and we should snatch them up when they do.
How do you use it?
If you get stuck trying to figure out what to do next, try this. Take all options and map them based on how much you’ll gain and how difficult it is to achieve.
Pick the task with the biggest gain for the least effort.
Step 1: Sketch out all available options
I recommend writing them on sticky notes, one per idea. List everything you can think of — quantity over quality.
Step 2: How impactful would it be to get each done?
Next, go through them one by one and use a "gut check" to assess how important each would be to get done.
Hold the sticky note over the grid and say "higher or lower" and adjust in realtime, with little or no discussion, until there is general consensus on its proper vertical positioning.
Do not overthink it.
Step 3: How difficult is each to get gone?
Now do the same for difficulty.
Hold each sticky note over the grid and say "harder or easier" as you move right and left, respectively, until there is general consensus.
Again, limit discussion and don't overthink it.
Step 4: Which one is the best bet for the moment?
Lastly, pick the right choice for right now.
It's about making an appropriately-sized bet that is proportional to the evidence you have available to you.
There are no right or wrong choices. If there were, entrepreneurship would be easy. Keep this in mind:
The job of a founder is to make the kinds of decisions that don't make themselves.