Introduction
Most business advice is written for people running a business
You are trying to find out whether you have one. That difference sounds small. It changes everything downstream, and it explains why so much sound advice arrives sounding either obvious or impossible.
The Seven Habits
Seven principles, ordered the way a company meets them
Stephen Covey's argument is that effectiveness comes from character rather than technique: a small number of principles governing how a person makes decisions. These are not steps and there is nothing to complete. Start wherever your situation is asking.
Conclusion
What to do with seven principles and no spare time
None of this is a programme. Take what applies, leave the rest where you can find it later.
Seven principles,read by a startup founder
Unproven assumptions. Finite runway. No spare capacity.
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01
Cost of neglectA build cycle, usually two
Seek first to understand
Before product-market fit, this is not a communication skill. It is the job.
Not market research. Not agreeableness. Not consensus.
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02
Cost of neglectGross margin, permanently
Think win-win
Early agreements are not experiments. They compound.
Not splitting the difference. Not being liked.
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03
Cost of neglectKey-person risk, paid at the worst moment
Synergize
At eight people the question is not who does this. It is who else could.
Not teamwork. Not culture. Not an offsite.
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04
Cost of neglectThe extra year
Begin with the end in mind
Without a threshold that could fail, no result registers as failure.
Not a vision. Not a forecast. Not a promise to investors.
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05
Cost of neglectCycle time
Put first things first
The question is not what to do. It is what you allow to stay broken.
Not a list. Not time management. Not a private view.
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06
Cost of neglectRunway spent on maintenance
Be proactive
Everything urgent has an advocate. Everything important does not.
Not busyness. Not doing everything yourself.
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07
Cost of neglectEveryone else's throughput
Sharpen the saw
Your team is not slow. It is queued.
Not rest alone. Not delegating tasks while keeping decisions.
Take one, not seven
The one you are avoiding is usually the one worth reading, because avoidance is a reliable signal that it is expensive.
Expect it to come back
None of these resolve permanently. Fix customer distance at twelve people and you will lose it again at forty, for entirely different reasons.