"Remember that prolific can beat perfect." - Futurist Jim Carroll
Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series, The Art of the Infinite Pivot, based on 36 lessons from his 36 years as a solo entrepreneur, working as a nomadic worker in the global freelance economy. The series is unfolding here, and at pivot.jimcarroll.com.
Here’s something I’ve learned firsthand: the world doesn’t always reward the best idea. It often rewards the one who shows up most often.
And did I ever show up!
Between 1994 and 2001, I entered a phase of intense, high-speed execution. I wrote or co-wrote 34 books, hosted 3 radio shows, wrote a national newspaper column, contributed to many other publications, and did hundreds of media interviews. The books? That was an average of nearly five books a year — all at the same time that my wife and I were in the midst of welcoming two babies into our lives.
Many people asked how I could maintain that pace while raising a family in a home office. The answer was simple: the opportunity (the rapid emergence of the Internet and global connectivity) was there, and I decided to chase it. In retrospect, I guess I treated my output as a manufacturing process. I didn’t wait for inspiration; I focused on delivering insight at an industrial scale.
In any industry or career, your capacity for consistent, high-speed execution is the single greatest predictor of your long-term success. The simple, daily act of showing up and doing the work defines your potential. Whether you are developing software, launching new products, or building a brand, velocity is your competitive advantage and execution is your differentiator.
Why is that? If you are producing at ten times the rate of your competitors, you are learning ten times faster; you are developing critical insight quicker; and most importantly, you are failing ten times faster. What does that lead do? When the world continues to change, you pivot ten times faster!
Some folks call this “hustle culture.” It’s about the realization that in a fast-moving economy, the opportunity in front of you has a short window. If you take three years to release a project, the world has already pivoted twice by the time you launch. By the time my 34th book hit the shelves, I was already moved on with my next career pivot, focusing on the link between innovation and the future.
What’s the lesson in all of this? Don’t over-analyze your voyage! Move from the “think-tank” of what you can do and why you can do it to the “production-line” of getting things done. As they say, just do it!
Because sometimes focusing on the output of where you are going is better sent than trying to ingest all the input of where you could be going.
Futurist Jim Carroll documented the remarkable story of the 34 books here.