At the year-end review meeting last week, the team leader shared his thoughts with us. What impressed me most was the things he expected not to do in the New Year. He took this opportunity to talk about what I don’t know about lists.
What is not for the list
‘Everyone should build their own stop doing list,’ Mr. Duan said in a q&A session. He has a more detailed explanation:
If you don’t know or don’t know what is the right thing to do, be clear about what is the wrong thing to do and avoid doing the wrong thing.
Similarly, Charlie Munger said something similar:
If I had known where I was going to die, I would never have gone there.
We often take the time to formulate our “do’s” and “hows” rather than lists, which tell us more about “don ‘ts”. When it comes to thinking about the right thing to do, we often get too confused, like:
- In investing, we want to buy at the lowest point and sell at the highest point
- Trying to leverage up returns only increases the risk of principal loss without increasing the odds
- Buying the hottest funds or stocks without knowing the company or the underlying asset class results in mean reversion, where the better the first one goes, the worse the second one is likely to do
By thinking backwards, the don ‘t-do list acts as a filter at critical moments, helping us push decisions in the right direction by eliminating options that would never work. The Do Not do list is one such tool.
Name a few chestnuts 🌰
Duan’s to-do list for OPPO and VIVO includes:
- There is no sales department, no separate price negotiation with customers, all customers have the same price, which saves a lot of time, but also avoids the risk of corruption.
- Do not OEM, because OEM products have no differentiation, no long-term value.
- In terms of leverage, don’t make any interest-bearing loans, so the company never makes a mistake with the capital chain.
By not doing inventory, the two companies reduce the probability of making mistakes and win the possibility of long-term development.
The list of don ‘ts I used to make for myself in investing had a few key points:
- Do not short
- Do not add leverage
- Don’t predict, just react
- Do not understand motionless, do not invest in their own do not understand things
- Don’t invest money for the long term that you’ll need in three years
I followed most of them well, but I still bought long-term positions with the money I would use in three years. At last, WHEN I needed money, I had no choice but to redeem at a low point, losing a large number of long-term positions. At that moment, I had a deeper understanding of the role of non-inventory.
I recall that when the team was planning a product last year, we did not emphasize how many features and users we were going to do next, but clearly stated what we were not going to do next. I have the following impression:
- Do not deliberately do DAU, DAU is a natural result of users’ recognition of us, should not be a target, the action is easy to distort.
- Do not do online XMind, the world does not need another XMind, but perhaps need a better collaborative office brain map.
- Instead of making more new features, focus on polishing existing features and fixing experience problems.
It is easy to add tool products, but difficult to subtract them. These principles helped us to reject many requirements and suggestions that were not appropriate at present in the process of product iteration, thus avoiding some detours.
How to build your own not for list
To me, a no-to-do list represents rationality and restraint, meaning a clear understanding of yourself or what to do. There are two ways to build your to-do list:
- Absorb the previous experience in the field, understand the situation behind the experience, and their own actual situation, internalize their own experience
- Make a note of the reasons why you want to say no. These reasons are often spontaneous.
A to-do list is not set in stone and needs to be constantly updated as age, experience, perception, and ability change, so start now without worrying about whether it will be out of date. It will serve as the background color of our life, always accompany around us.
If you already have your own to-do list or are inspired after reading this article, please share your to-do list in the comments.