Getting stuff done: a bias to action

I enjoyed the interview in yesterday's FT with management thinker Tom Peters, written by Stefan Stern.

Successful management is mostly about luck, says Peters. And time spent pondering strategy is less important than time spent actually getting stuff done. There is no secret: just try hard and, if you fail, try again, he says.

I like his emphasis on doing lots of things until something works. The contrary – and popular – idea of focusing on just one project at a time sounds logically appealing, but never works for me in practice: I'm too eclectic. As Peters says:

"Are you throwing enough spaghetti at the wall so that some of it will stick? Whoever does the most stuff has the highest chance of doing well. It’s about getting stuff done."

Comments

[Neil Baker]

William,

Does thinking time cost money? Time spent thinking an idea through can be a good investment. But at some point you've got to get on and actually do something that you can bill someone for. It's like when people say they get their best ideas when doing the washing up. So spend all day washing up and you'll be a huge success: no.

[William Knight]

I'm obviously not throwing enough spaghetti, but my pasta bill is already eating up my paltry earnings from writing. You've got to earn to buy the next batch of spaghetti. After all, thinking time costs money.