The hard parts (and the important parts)

The hard parts of what you do all day can feel fraught. It’s heavy lifting. Emergencies. Dangerous labor. The stakes are high and the work can be difficult.

The important parts of what you do all day are valuable to someone else. This is what you’re getting paid for–solving a customer’s problems.

A simple example:

The important part of running a successful condiments business is getting shelf space for your ketchup, promoting it so that people are eager to buy it, and keeping the promises you make the distributors and customers.

The hard part might involve actually making ketchup. Steam, heat, heavy objects, supply chains…

We can’t run this business without the hard parts, but that doesn’t mean we have to do it ourselves.

The thing is, there are other people you can buy the ketchup from. And you can also expand what you offer to include things that are easier to make but just as valuable to your customers. The important part feels risky. We might be afraid of it. It could require emotional labor. But it’s not the same as the hard part.

A trusted brand is important. Commodity products are hard.

When we persuade ourselves that the hard part is also the important part, there’s a small chance we have found the truth, but it’s likely we’re setting a trap that will keep us stuck.

If you’ve figured out how to do something important, don’t muddy it up by signing up to do things that are hard.

August 16, 2024