Why it can be a mistake to constantly chase the next big thing … and what to do instead … 

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My new book is out now

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New book

Jim Collins, author of the book “Good to Great”, once said that “one of the biggest

strategic mistakes you can make is to fail to make the most of your victories.

Yet, even brilliant leaders sometimes make this mistake.

One reason they fail is if they are obsessively searching

for the next big thing.”

And Collins has a point here, right?

I mean, what's not to like about the next big thing?

Wouldn’t you just love to launch one?

One of the misconceptions about big things is that they would just appear

and immediately take over the world.

But that's hardly how it works in real life.

The iPhone was a niche product when it launched.

Facebook was only available at a single university when it launched.

Tesla, which is actually yet to become an actual big thing launched

with an expensive niche sports car.

Most big things have actually started small and grown big over

time by rigorously observing what worked and what didn't.

And then amplifying what worked and fixing what doesn't.

When you constantly chase the next big thing you constantly start fresh which

is another word for starting small.

Therefore, instead of asking what else could work, it might pay to

regularly ask what's already working.

And then to amplify that.