Hey, happy Monday!
We all want more. But more of what?
In this note I will not talk about goals and results but about a process that happens in the background of which few are really aware and are able to use it to their advantage. Those who do achieve extraordinary results.
It is a constantly underestimated piece of the puzzle, a moment of disconnect between our actions and the destination we want to reach. If you don’t learn to take control of it, it will be the one to do it, and like a grain of sand in the gears, in the long run, it will break the engine.
I am talking about optimization. Specifically, the impact of choosing a variable according to which to optimize the system.
How to get the most
To optimize literally means to achieve as much as possible. To reach the point of optimum. To make that measure the highest possible. This is exactly how we change the course of things. That we shape our behavior. That we act on the future.
Most of us do this unconsciously.
But those who do it on purpose win.
Let’s give examples.
F1, optimized for speed.
September 5, 2021. Dutch Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Perez. Two drivers in the same stable. They drive the same car.
They have the same engine. Designed by the same engineers. They consume the same fuel and the same tires. They bite the same asphalt.
Are the two cars identical? Yes, but they are optimized differently.
Based on the race strategy. To the position on the starting grid. To one’s own and opponents’ times.
Shock absorbers, tires, tank, ailerons, electronics, etc.
By changing the variables, both drivers make sure they get the maximum speed. In real time, lap by lap.
Verstappen comes in first. Perez eighth. Not second. Not even third. Eighth.
It could be the skill of the pilot, it could be the…
But optimizing the car means winning.
It means making sure there is grip between strategy and execution.
A little more of this. A little less of this other. Timing.
Facebook, optimized to get a bigger slice of your life.
You may have seen the new Ray Ban Stories. For less than three hundred dollars you can get a pair of glasses that connects your life with the platform.
They are nothing new. The future of computers is getting closer and closer to our eyes and brains.
Ray Ban Stories are a clear indication of Facebook’s new optimization phase, one in which what is important now is to increasing the percentage of users’ lives shared on the platform.
Statistics say that we use the phone on average 6 hours a day. With glasses we could definitely reach 12 hours and without having our hands full!
Just by pressing a button or using voice, first-person photos and videos end up first in a specific app then directly on one of Facebook’s four.
Although the little white light is off and in the presentation video Mark Zuckerberg assures that there is a button to turn off the cameras and microphone completely, on the product’s privacy page it says specifically that the data is yours but that you will be offered “even more personalized” products. Now that it has our eyes we believe it.
It is an acceleration in the curve toward more precise targeting and tracking, a higher volume of content produced and consumed, and more time spent on the platform that ultimately means more ads and therefore more revenue.
Why is it important to decide what to optimize?
Because otherwise someone else will do it….
Schools are optimized for notions rather than per experimentation and collaboration just as parents have optimized their children’s choices on safety rather than experience.
Even when you go on vacation you optimize for relaxation rather than partying, you optimize for sports rather than art…
What about in business?
I think it is even more crucial to make the variable to be optimized explicit.
And that is the task of leaders because otherwise the corporate culture, that set of unwritten codes of behavior, will do it for them.
Imagine working in a team optimized for autonomy rather than constant permission seeking. How would power be distributed? How would processes be different?
Imagine again optimizing your product for customer satisfaction rather than margins. How would it be different? Would it be more competitive?
If strategy allows us to set the direction, optimization on the other hand allows us to shift gears and choose the most efficient ratio to overcome the competition.
You, what are you optimizing for?
Always Make Progress!
