Focus Is Key

READING an interview with the boss of warehouse company Costco once, he was asked what he thought of Walmart’s rival warehouse chain Sam’s Club.

It did not particularly bother him, was his reply.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, with a turnover bigger than many countries? How come their firepower behind a rival warehouse store did not cause him to lose sleep?

It is not as though the Costco guy was dismissive of the Sam’s Club rival – far from it, he was happy to recognize them as a formidable operation.

So why was he not concerned by this rival that could outspend him in any way it chose?

Simple, was the reply. Sam’s Club – good though it was – made up only 10 per cent of Walmart’s overall business. So it would only ever get 10 per cent of the Walmart chief executive’s attention.

But as Costco only ran Costco stores, he was focused 100 per cent on Costco stores.

It was not a criticism nor an insult against his larger rival, just a fact of life.

And he was right – focus tends to be the key to success for top performers, whether in sport, music, art – or business.

We live in a world where multitasking is generally praised – but single tasking is probably a better way to achieve results and not get distracted by busy work.

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