Essentialism: How It Shapes My Approach to Strategic Development

Why Strategic Focus Matters & Why This Book

In both product development and software engineering, we constantly face a paradox of choice: unlimited possibilities competing for limited resources. The ability to identify and execute on the vital few opportunities while deliberately ignoring the trivial many is perhaps the most underrated skill in building successful products and businesses.

I first encountered Greg McKeown's "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" in 2016 when bootstrapping my physical product company, Simpacti. As a first time founder with limited capital and bandwidth, I was drowning in potential strategies, features, and opportunities. McKeown's philosophy of "less but better" struck me as the antidote to my overwhelm. What I didn't realize then was how profoundly this book would shape not only the trajectory of my product business but also my subsequent approach to software development and technical problem solving.

Key Insights That Resonated

Insight 1: The Power of Extreme Selectivity

McKeown's central argument is that essentialists distinguish between the vital few and the trivial many in every area of life. This isn't about getting more things done but about getting the right things done. He challenges readers to ask, "What is essential?" and then ruthlessly eliminate everything else.

This mindset was revolutionary for me as both a product creator and developer. In a world that celebrates "more" and equates busyness with productivity, embracing the discipline of pursuing less-but better felt both counterintuitive and liberating.

Insight 2: The 80/20 Principle in Action

Essentialism strongly incorporates the Pareto Principle: roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. McKeown encourages readers to identify the 20% of activities that produce 80% of results and focus resources there.

This principle provided a concrete framework for decision making in my business. Rather than spreading efforts equally across all potential areas, I learned to identify and double down on the highest leverage activities, those that delivered disproportionate returns on investment of time, energy, and resources.

Insight 3: The Power of a Graceful "No"

Perhaps the most challenging insight from Essentialism is that saying "yes" to one thing means saying "no" to many other things. McKeown argues that many of us have been conditioned to say yes automatically, without considering the implicit trade offs.

Learning to say "no" gracefully to opportunities, features, and even customers that didn't align with our core focus proved instrumental in both my product business and software development work. This wasn't about being negative, but about creating space for extraordinary impact on the few things that truly mattered.

Putting Theory into Practice: Real World Application

Application: Pivoting My Product Business Strategy

The most dramatic application of essentialist thinking came early in my product business journey. Initially, I was pursuing a B2B model, wholesaling packNpuff to individual smoke shops and dispensaries. This meant juggling dozens of accounts, managing various relationships, and constantly chasing new wholesale customers.

Applying the 80/20 principle forced me to analyze where our revenue was actually coming from. The data was eye opening: our Amazon channel was generating over 90% of our revenue while requiring only about 20% of our effort. This insight led to a complete strategic pivot:

• We shifted from a B2B to a B2C model
• We focused intensely on optimizing our Amazon presence
• We reallocated resources from wholesale relationship management to Amazon listing optimization

The results were transformative, our business grew exponentially while actually reducing operational complexity. By focusing on what was essential (our most effective sales channel), we achieved more with less effort.

Application: Product Development Discipline

Essentialism also shaped our approach to product development. Rather than pursuing multiple product ideas simultaneously (as many startups do), we adopted an essentialist approach:

• We focused on perfecting our core product (packNpuff) before expanding
• We eliminated features that weren't critical to solving our customers' primary pain point
• We invested heavily in refining the core experience rather than adding complexity

This discipline paid off dramatically. PackNpuff achieved a 4.5 star rating with over 930 reviews on Amazon, validation that doing one thing exceptionally well beats doing many things adequately. Only after establishing this strong foundation did we cautiously expand our product line.

Application: Feature Prioritization in Software Development

As I transitioned to software development, I brought these essentialist principles with me. When building Wetbulb35.com, I faced the typical temptation to include numerous features and data visualizations. Instead, I applied essentialist thinking:

• I identified the core value proposition: providing accessible wet bulb temperature data
• I ruthlessly prioritized features based on direct contribution to this core value
• I delayed or eliminated features that were interesting but not essential

This approach allowed me to launch a functional, valuable application much faster than if I'd pursued a more expansive feature set. By focusing on the vital 20% of features that delivered 80% of the value, I created a more coherent and user focused product.

Further Thoughts & Considerations

While Essentialism has been transformative, implementing it presents challenges in collaborative environments where multiple stakeholders have different priorities. I've found that effectively communicating the essentialist rationale focusing on impact rather than activity is crucial for alignment.

Additionally, Essentialism pairs powerfully with other productivity frameworks. It complements Getting Things Done by providing the strategic layer above tactical organization, and it enhances Deep Work by clarifying which tasks deserve uninterrupted focus.

Conclusion: The Takeaway for My Work

More than any other book, Essentialism has fundamentally altered how I evaluate opportunities and allocate resources. The single most significant lesson has been internalizing what McKeown calls "the disciplined pursuit of less" the ongoing practice of distinguishing the vital few from the trivial many.

For development teams and organizations, an essentialist approach offers tremendous value. In an industry often plagued by feature bloat, scope creep, and shiny object syndrome, the ability to identify and execute on what truly matters represents a genuine competitive advantage. By applying essentialist thinking to code architecture, feature selection, and technical debt management, I'm able to build solutions that are not just functional but focused addressing core user needs with elegance and efficiency rather than complexity.

In a field where we're constantly asked to do more with less, Essentialism provides the counterintuitive truth: by doing less, but doing it better, we actually achieve more of what matters.

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Rating: 5/5

Want to Discuss? Have you read Essentialism or implemented similar principles in your development work? I'd love to hear how you balance the pursuit of less but better in an industry that often celebrates more and faster!