Simple Still Works

The Simple Newsletter - Issue # 090

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Adam’s Thoughts

The old Bic lighter.

You’ve seen one. I’m actually holding one in my hand right now.

It’s basically the same simple piece of equipment that’s been around for decades.

Why?

Because it works.

Tom and I had to remind ourselves of that this week.

We’ve spent a lot of time recently asking how we should evolve the business.

We’ve gotten incredibly clear on who we work with—and, maybe more importantly, who we don’t work with.

And once we had that clarity, the natural question became:

What should we double down on?

Maybe it’s the Mastermind.

Maybe it’s Be the CEO.

At one point, we started looking at the Mastermind and saying, “This could be its own business.”

And technically, it could.

So we went deep.

What would it look like?

How big could it become?

How small would we want to keep it?

What would members receive?

What would our lives look like if we built the entire company around it?

We talked about it for hours.

So much that eventually we both needed to stop and sleep on it.

The next day, we came back and talked about the Bic lighter.

Same thing.

Over and over again.

For decades.

Because it works.

And that helped us realize something:

Our business already works.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be reinvented.

Doubling down doesn’t always mean choosing one piece and making it bigger.

Sometimes doubling down means committing harder to the entirety of what already works.

The Mastermind.

Be the CEO.

The advisory work.

The relationships.

The way all of those pieces work together for our clients—and for us.

Maybe that’s the thing.

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Adam’s Lessons

There are going to be a lot of opportunities in front of you.

Especially when something is working.

You’ll start seeing everything it could become.

And that can be incredibly exciting.

But I think there’s a question we need to ask more often:

Is this an opportunity—or is this my opportunity?

Those are very different things.

Tom and I absolutely could build either side of our business into something much larger.

We could turn something that is currently part of what we do into the entire thing we do.

That doesn’t mean we should.

Just because you can build the flamethrower doesn’t mean you should stop producing the Bic lighter.

Sometimes the simple thing already does exactly what it’s supposed to do.

And I think this is where certainty becomes so important.

Not certainty in the outcome.

None of us gets that.

Certainty in the decision.

Knowing:

This is the direction.

This is what we’re doing.

And now we’re going to stop questioning it long enough to actually see what it can become.

So yeah…

Tom and I are sticking with the Bic lighter.

At least this version of ours.

Because right now?

It works.

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So here’s my question for you this week:

What opportunity are you considering right now—and have you honestly asked yourself whether it’s an opportunity or truly your opportunity?

Reply and tell me. While I can’t respond to every message, Tom and I read every reply, and we genuinely appreciate hearing from you.

That’s all for this week.

See you next Saturday.