Grief-to-Gross Ratio
Choose work that creates the most impact with the least avoidable friction
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
The Grief-to-Gross Ratio is a prioritization lens for comparing routes to the same outcome. Step back from the activity list, identify where your time could create the greatest impact, and compare that potential with the friction, repetition, and effort each route demands. Then look for a design that reverses the current—for example, attracting qualified people rather than repeatedly chasing them. The goal is not to avoid all difficult work; it is to remove unnecessary grief from the path to gross impact or revenue. The result is a smaller set of activities that are more effective, efficient, and capable of compounding.
Origin
Heather developed the ratio in the media business while comparing hiring, training, contests, and direct sales as competing uses of her time.
Core principles
- 01Many activities can pursue the same result
- 02Impact must be compared with the friction required to create it
- 03Strategic design can reverse a costly chase
- 04The best route is effective, efficient, and repeatable
How to run it
- 1
Name the gross
Define the business or performance result you are trying to increase.
Pro tip Use one clear result so unlike activities can be compared.
- 2
Map the routes
List the realistic activities that could produce the result.
Pro tip Include direct work, team development, systems, and attraction-based approaches.
- 3
Price the grief
Assess the time, coordination, repetition, and avoidable friction attached to each activity.
Pro tip Separate one-time setup cost from recurring burden.
Watch out Do not label discomfort as waste merely because a task is hard.
- 4
Estimate the impact
Compare the likely scale, quality, and repeatability of the result each route can create.
Pro tip Prefer evidence from past attempts where available.
- 5
Flip the current
Design a route that makes desired people or opportunities move toward you instead of requiring repeated pursuit.
Pro tip Assets such as reputation and useful content can compound attraction.
Watch out Attraction strategies still need a credible value signal.
- 6
Run the best ratio
Prioritize the route with the strongest impact relative to avoidable grief and measure the real result.
In the wild
Heather saw that interviewing hundreds of people to find one strong candidate had a poor ratio. She built a personal brand to attract like-minded people interested in elevating themselves. Those people then applied for available jobs, reversing the recruiting current.
→ Candidate attraction reduced repeated search friction while improving access to aligned applicants.
Common mistakes
Optimizing only for ease
The lowest-friction activity is not strategic if it creates little meaningful impact.
Ignoring compounding returns
An asset may require more setup while producing a much better long-term ratio than recurring manual work.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for operators choosing among several ways to grow revenue, attract talent, or create opportunity.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when necessary hard work is mislabeled as avoidable grief or when long-term value is ignored.
From the transcript
“you have to start taking a step back and observe the entire landscape and say where is my time best spent”
“if there's going to be a lot of grief around this so for example going out and interviewing hundreds and hundreds of people to find…”
“how can i flip the current instead of me chasing people how do i get people to start chasing me”
From the episode
Heather Monahan, Overcome Haters and Build Unstoppable Confidence