Why is focus hard?

A common regret shared by leaders in tech are those times they feel their companies lost focus.  For many I know, they most regret the times they thought they were focused but really weren’t  - and the fact they could not tell the difference at the time. This condition almost always morphs into super expensive mistakes or even full failure of an otherwise great opportunity. 

Why is focus so hard?  When I talk to other CEOs about this we always agreed that the data we needed was present; and no one was acting or thinking in lazy ways. So were we obsessed with the wrong data?  Did we ask the wrong people for their input?  Did our personal weak spots or biases blind us to the truth?  

Even if I had the answers to those questions, I’m not sure they would be helpful to anyone or prevent future regrets as a result.

The one thing I did realize is that it’s hard to know you are focusing if you can’t accurately model the situation your company is in.  The failure to focus started and ended with a failure to clearly synthesize a view of the reality around you based on the right set of facts, feeds and instincts at your disposal.  And because of that, you failed to identify the one or two things you needed to get absolutely right in order to deliver the company. Focus is hard because this synthesis is hard and sometimes we, as leaders, model the world around us to fit how we think it should be, not how it really is.

I think this is where Boards can and should help. They can test your thinking, they can challenge your logic, they can help you grind on how you think about what is real and what is critical. Ultimately, it’s management’s call though; ultimately the CEO and their team will be judged by how well they take data points, experience and instincts and synthesize a true view of what needs to be done to win.