Mark C. Winters presents a short video tying Cal Newport’s "intensity formula" (productivity = time × intensity of focus) and Adam Grant’s "variety formula" (creativity = time × variety of ideas) to the Rocket Fuel Ventures framework of "integrators" and "visionaries." He argues integrators should master intensity to drive organizational productivity while visionaries should master variety to drive creativity, and that pairing both roles prevents neglecting either function. The piece closes with three takeaways and a call-to-action to visit RocketFuelNow.com, take assessments, and read the book Rocket Fuel.
Chapters
Hi, everybody. It's Mark C. Winters. And in a recent post, we discussed a concept called attention residue. And what we learned from that is that the key to deep work is really to get an intense focus for a meaningful block of uninterrupted time without switching the task that you're working on. And in Cal Newport's book Deep Work, he studied a professor at Horton named Adam Grant. And Adam is a pretty special guy. He's the author of Give and Take, also the book Originals. And he's a really young guy. He's extremely productive in terms of the research and kind of how he produces as an academic. And he's also loved by his students. And so Newport goes in to study him, and he has this concept of what he calls an intensity formula. And what he found was that was absolutely how Adam Grant was being able to achieve these kind of results and put out this kind of production is this intensity formula. And the intensity formula is simply this. Productivity is a function of time and the intensity of your focus. Okay, so we'll come back to that. Now, Adam Grant being studied by Cal Newport, he starts kind of looking at himself and thinking about this, and he thought, yeah, that intensity formula, that's relevant. That has a lot to do with what I'm able to do. But he also added his own formula, which he calls the variety formula. And actually what it says is that creativity is a function of time and the variety of ideas that you're able to work with. Okay. And so I started thinking about this, and I thought, man, this lines up perfectly with our structures of visionary and integrators and really what their unique abilities are dialed in to be able to do. And so if you think about it, the integrator must master that intensity formula, and they, through that, drive productivity in the organization. And likewise, the visionary needs to become a master of this variety formula and really drive creativity through the organization. So if you look at them both together, the visionary's driving creativity. Again, creativity is a function of time and the variety of ideas they're working with. And the integrator is mastering this intensity formula, where productivity is a function of time and the intensity of their focus. Then together, the combination, again, very powerful. It makes sure that as an organization, as a company, we're not neglecting either area. Make sense. So three key points to wrap this one up today. The integrator must master the intensity formula and drive productivity through the organization. Number two, the visionary has to master that variety formula and drive creativity through the organization. And number three, be aware that productivity and creativity work in different ways. Thanks for watching. Today at Rocket Fuel Ventures we're all about creating the most powerful visionary integrator duos on the planet. And we do that by helping you crystallize what it means to be a visionary and an integrator so you can understand if that concept can help you and and if you decide it can, to get connected with your complementary counterpart and then finally maximize that relationship to make it everything it can be to help you take your company to the next level. So if you want more rocket Fuel, please check out our website@rocketfuelnow.com and that's where you can sign up for the weekly videos like this. Be sure you're getting these on a regular basis. You can also take the assessments so you can understand as a visionary or as an integrator what where your strengths lie and what the shape is of your two piece puzzles that can help you find that complementary counterpart. And finally, of course read the book Rocket Fuel and keep those great reviews coming. So until next time, go Rocket.
