Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Protect the core problem from urgent distractions
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 95%
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing is a focus rule for operating through hardship. First state the central problem the venture was created to solve. Then separate work that is important to that problem from work that merely feels urgent. Crises and routine friction generate many demands, but responding to all of them can gradually move the company away from its purpose and delay profitability. Protect time for the important work, address urgency when it truly supports the core outcome, and repeatedly test whether current activity advances the original problem. The model does not prohibit a deliberate pivot after evidence invalidates the premise; it prevents accidental drift caused by distraction.
Origin
Miles connects Stephen Covey's phrase to Square co-founder Jim McKelvey's observation that mentored founders often fail after hardship distracts them from the problem they began by solving.
Core principles
- 01A business exists to solve a central problem
- 02Hardship creates distracting urgency
- 03Important work and urgent work are not identical
- 04Distance from the core problem reduces the chance of success
How to run it
- 1
Define the main thing
Write the customer problem and outcome that justify the venture's existence.
Pro tip Make it specific enough to rule work in or out.
Watch out A slogan is too vague to guide trade-offs.
- 2
Classify demands
Separate important work from urgent work instead of treating them as synonyms.
Pro tip Ask whether ignoring the task would harm the core problem or only create discomfort.
Watch out Repeated notifications can make low-value work feel strategically important.
- 3
Protect core progress
Allocate capacity to work that advances the main thing before reacting to lesser demands.
Pro tip Reserve an explicit block for the highest-value problem-solving work.
- 4
Audit for drift
Review whether recent actions have moved the venture closer to or farther from the central outcome.
Pro tip If the premise changed, make a deliberate pivot rather than drifting silently.
Watch out Persistence is not useful when credible evidence has invalidated the original problem.
In the wild
Jim McKelvey could not sell an expensive glass artwork because he could not accept the customer's payment. That problem became the genesis of Square. His later mentoring showed him that founders often lose focus when hardship arrives and stop solving the main problem that started their journey.
→ The origin problem provides a filter for operating priorities.
Common mistakes
Confusing urgent with important
A pressing task can consume attention while contributing little to the venture's reason for existing.
Turning focus into rigidity
The rule should prevent accidental drift, not block an evidence-led pivot.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and teams facing many competing tasks during difficult operating periods.
Not ideal for
A venture whose original problem has been invalidated by evidence and genuinely needs a strategic pivot.
From the transcript
“it's during these times where people get distracted from solving the main thing that was the whole Genesis for them starting their Journey”
“the main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing”
From the episode
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