There was a concept from the book That Will Never Work by Mark Randolph the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. He incorporated a process in business that he called “scraping the barnacles off the hull.
Background
For those who aren’t familiar, barnacles are marine crustaceans that attach themselves permanently to a variety of surfaces – including boats.
When this happens, boats burn more fuel which costs more money and has negative environmental impacts. To combat these costs, the boat’s hull is often scraped to remove them.
Application in Business
What are the business barnacles? Here’s the explanation from Mark:
“I believe what makes any startup successful is not getting distracted. We used to refer to it as scraping the barnacles off the hull, because as you’re moving, you’re testing things and you’re trying things, and you’re slowly but surely creating new features to your business.”
Mark Randolph
Scraping the barnacles is the focus.
Putting all the attention on the things that matter.
Knowing what isn’t working and scraping it away.
Ensuring nothing is dragging you down.
Nothing is holding you back.
My Perspective
There are so many things that could be pulling us back in both work and life. Doing a regular “scraping” of those areas that are no longer serving you well would definitely be a good practice to add.
I do monthly reviews and goal setting. These are typically focused on lists of items to accomplish. There isn’t a good reflection of what to stop doing. This month, I want to add a few questions to consider removing the barnacles.
I will consider topics like standing meetings, reoccurring subscriptions, regular processes, products, relationships, and possibly a few more.
Your Turn
Are there barnacles currently holding you back?
Do you have a regular reflection time to evaluate things to stop doing?
How might you ensure that your personal and business “ships” are scraped regularly?