Core Competency Bullseye
Move time inward toward the work with the highest economic value
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 99%
Picture work as concentric rings around a bullseye. The center contains the few activities that create the most value when you personally perform them; outer rings contain work that can be done for much lower hourly cost. Recognize and polish the center-ring competency, then automate, delegate, or eliminate work farther out. Begin with tasks that someone can do for twenty or thirty dollars an hour, including personal errands, but immediately replace the recovered time with the needle mover. As the business grows, keep moving inward by hiring for progressively more valuable work whenever your center activity still produces a higher return.
Origin
Graziosi said he used to draw a bullseye on a whiteboard to explain why founders should concentrate on the work that makes the most money in their companies.
Core principles
- 01Not all working hours create equal value
- 02Core competencies belong at the center
- 03Low-value work should be automated, delegated, or eliminated
- 04Delegated time must be replaced with needle-moving work
How to run it
- 1
Draw the rings
List recurring work and place it in concentric rings according to the value created when you do it.
Pro tip Include personal errands because they consume the same finite time as business tasks.
Watch out Habit can make low-value work feel necessary simply because you have always done it.
- 2
Find the center
Identify the work that moves the needle most and depends on your distinctive ability, such as relationships, hiring, writing, or dealmaking.
Pro tip Estimate an hourly value to make the contrast visible.
Watch out Do not label every task a core competency.
- 3
Clear the outer rings
Automate, delegate, or eliminate tasks that can be performed at a much lower cost than the center-ring work.
Pro tip Start with the easiest twenty- or thirty-dollar-per-hour tasks.
Watch out Delegation without an economic return is only added expense.
- 4
Replace the time
Move the recovered hours directly into the center competency. Keep repeating the process as the business and value of your time grow.
Pro tip Schedule the replacement work before handing off the old task.
Watch out Freed time that returns to busywork does not create leverage.
In the wild
Graziosi told his mother that he paid people to fill his car, change light bulbs, mow the yard, take out garbage, and collect dry cleaning. During those hours he could write a book, sales letter, course, or training that might produce ten thousand dollars while a lawn was mowed for sixty dollars.
→ Routine work was exchanged for more time in his economically valuable core competency.
Common mistakes
Delegating without replacement
Paying to remove a task only creates leverage when the recovered time goes into higher-value work.
Confusing effort with value
A task can be difficult and still belong in an outer ring if another person can perform it effectively at much lower cost.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for operators whose highest-value skills are crowded out by routine business or personal tasks.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal before the operator can reliably use the freed time to create more value than delegation costs.
From the episode
The Man Who Makes Millionaires (for 30+ Years): His Money Framework I Dean Graziosi
Dean Graziosi