Obsessed with a Single ProblemI think there is a ton of value, especially for product people, in obsessing with and really understanding one problem or one product.
I think there is a ton of value, especially for product people, in obsessing with and really understanding one problem or one product.
It is very easy to skate by life distracted. Whenever things get hard, we can always just switch careers, change mindsets, or add on a new project/product and forget about the old ones.
I have found that I have done that multiple times before. When I got sick/bored/uninterested in a problem I was working on, I would try and pivot to a new thing or just start a new project entirely.
Distracted.
While this is not a bad thing, it certainly took away from honing in on my ability to “win” in one space.
One of the problems, I am guessing, is that I have never been so obsessed with just one thing that I wanted to dedicate all of my life and time to it. I am not sure if that scenario is really true for most people and successful makers, or if it is rather a more romanticized feeling that does not really exist.
That said, I am definitely working on this by trying to attack problems one at a time. I am reading lots about certain issues. Trying to dive deep on root causes and, hopefully, finding something (a space, industry, problem set) that I know I can solve over a long period of time.
The ability to work hard on one thing is a really valuable skill and one that I know will be important long term.
I have found, through my own experiences, that when things get tough (and you are not so passionate about things), the easy thing to do is just leave.
Few people stay.
And of that group, even less make it through to a positive upswing.
But when you do…it is really special.
Originally published at gonen.blog.
By jordangonen on November 4, 2017.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.