When I made breakfast this morning, I didnât begin by making the blender. Someone else, a team with more skills, resources and scale, built the blender. I simply bought it.
That seems obviousâno one expects a from-scratch baker to make their own baking powder.
And yet, our projects are rarely fine tuned around leverage.
Begin with this question: âWhat are you hiring yourself to do?â
Are you making that choice because your labor is cheap and convenient, or because itâs the place of maximum leverage? Itâs often easier to be busy than it is to be productive.
Busy is a morally superior distraction. Busy gets us off the hook. Busy is a great place to hide.
On the other hand, productive can be scary. When youâre buying someone elseâs skill and time, youâre making a different sort of commitment.
Your job might not be to do your job. Your job might be to make the decisions and commitments needed to lead other people who do your (former) job.
The calculation is simple: If the commercial project is worth doing, whatâs the most direct, cheapest and fastest way to get it done well?
Thereâs nothing wrong with hiring yourself to do things you enjoy. And itâs imperative that when you embrace leverage to get projects done, you produce work youâre proud ofâshipping junk, at scale, is not the point.
But my guess is that most of us settle for a pattern of leverage that weâre used to, a pace that weâve become accustomed to, a day filled with tasks we think weâre good at. Iâve talked to people all over the worldâentrepreneurs, freelancers, employees and bossesâand most of them are sure that theyâre leveraging just the right amount. Even though itâs different for everyoneâŠ
The make or buy choice is one we face all day, every day, and rarely consider.
If youâre serious about the project, itâs time to give yourself a promotion, and to hire yourself to do work thatâs yours and yours alone to contribute. Itâs almost certain that thereâs someone cheaper, faster and yes, better at the other work than you are.
One our best days, what we actually make is decisions.
You might need to invest some time and energy to get the skills you need to find this leverage. To be smart about the tools you use and the people you hire. Thatâs an investment worth making.
Find the resources you need, and figure out how to work with them. Then hire someone else to make a blender.
