Focus

'Focus' has become a buzzword in every business planning cycle. But do we even know what it actually means?

I looked up the origin: focus comes from the Latin for 'hearth.' Later, optics used it for the point where light converges and burns. It's not about doing more. It's concentrating energy hard enough that something actually changes.

The distinction is critical: Focus is also not about doing less. It is about choosing what gets zero mental space.

One line from the movie Gattaca stuck with me for years. It explains focus better than any business book.

Two brothers. Same ocean. One is genetically 'supposed' to win. They race anyway, and Vincent, the underdog, wins. His brother asks: How? All the odds were against him.

Vincent's answer is the punchline: 'I never saved anything for the swim back.'

That's not just grit. That is the ultimate resource allocation strategy.

Most teams don't lose because they lack talent. They lose because they keep an escape hatch open. They hedge because they are afraid of what happens if they go all in and miss. They keep a tiny reserve for the retreat, then act surprised when the outcome is mediocre.

In GTM execution, 'Plan B' is often just a distraction from making Plan A work. When you are fully immersed, you don't need a safety net. You close the door on 'good enough' so the only option left is to win.