I’m a curious person with a wide range of interests. I’m interested in computer programming, writing, personal development, and business. I’m also interested in a few other fields that I haven’t mentioned.
A question that often arises in my mind is this: how should I manage these different interests?
I recently found an answer by reading a summary of The Da Vinci Curse. The goal of the book is to help those who have many interests but can’t determine which ones to focus on. It includes a framework to help them manage their interests and the corresponding opportunities.
The framework—called the BCG matrix—was originally created by Boston Consulting Group to help companies allocate their resources, but the book adapted it to individuals as well.
The framework classifies your activities into four groups based on their financial and fulfillment potential:
• Dogs: activities that can give you neither wealth nor fulfillment.
• Cows: activities that can give you wealth but not fulfillment.
• Question Marks: activities that can give you fulfillment but not wealth.
• Stars: activities that can give you both wealth and fulfillment.
Let’s take a look at what you should do with each of them. Here are the recommended actions:
• Eliminate Dogs. Activities in this category are the worst ones because they give you nothing. So obviously you must eliminate them.
• Prioritize Stars. Activities in this category are the best ones because they give you both wealth and fulfillment. So you should invest most of your resources here.
• Eliminate Cows. This might be surprising, but the book recommends you to eliminate them. They may give you money, but if they are not fulfilling, then they aren’t worth spending your time on.
I know this is not easy to do, especially if you need the money from these activities. My recommendation is to not eliminate them right away. Instead, I recommend you to first build a side project out of your Star activities. Then, when the side project becomes mature, you can eliminate the Cows.
• Nurture Question Marks. This recommendation is also a bit surprising to me. It means that you shouldn’t neglect certain interests just because they aren’t profitable. Instead, you should still develop them while looking for ways to make them profitable.
I like this framework. In my opinion, it’s a good framework for maximizing your happiness at work. If your goal is just maximizing your income, however, it’s not optimal since it recommends that Cows should be eliminated.
The BCG Matrix framework helps me classify my interests. Since I’m already interested in these things, there are only two possible categories for them: Question Marks or Stars.
What’s eye opening for me is the book’s suggestion on Question Marks. Don’t eliminate them. Instead, keep working on them while looking for ways to make them profitable.
What about you? Have you found your Stars? What about your Question Marks? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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