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Saying “No” More Often

Written by

Mike Paul

in

Commonplace
"Instead of encouraging each group to let product lines proliferate based on marketing considerations, or permitting a thousand ideas to bloom, Jobs insisted that Apple focus on just two or three priorities at a time. “There is no one better at turning off the noise that is going on around him,” Cook said. “That allows him to focus on a few things and say no to many things. Few people are really good at that.”" (Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs)
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Learning to say “no” more often is a primary driver of success. We all have only so much bandwidth to dedicate to projects. Choosing not to do something or having no opinion about it leads to more productivity and less stress.



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Mike Paul

Reflections from the edge of the singularity.

Disclaimer: These views are my own—research-informed, hard-earned, and emphatically unaffiliated with any employer. If this were an official position, it would be wrapped in legal language and stripped of meaning. Thankfully, it isn’t.

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