The One Thing: The Simple Truth Behind Scaling Up

There’s a reason the best companies and the best leaders focus on one thing at a time.

In business — as in life — the power of focus is exponential.

As Gary Keller and Jay Papasan write in their best-selling book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results:

“Success is built sequentially. It’s one thing at a time.”

At Strategy & Execution, this principle sits at the heart of the Scaling Up methodology.
Each quarter, each year, every team we coach identifies its ONE Thing — the single priority that, if achieved, makes everything else easier or unnecessary.

Because when everything is a priority, nothing is.

Why “Less Is More” Is a Growth Strategy

Most leaders believe they can multitask their way to success. They can’t.

The truth is, multitasking divides your attention, weakens decision quality, and slows execution.

Keller’s research proves that the people and businesses that achieve extraordinary results do one thing differently:
They focus relentlessly on the most important thing — not the most urgent.

When you ask yourself,

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
…you force clarity.

Clarity creates direction.
Direction drives action.
Action builds momentum.

That’s the compounding magic of focus.

Go Small to Grow Big

Keller calls it “going small.”

“Going small means ignoring all the things you could do and focusing on what you should do.”

It sounds simple — but it’s not easy.
Most teams get lost in complexity. They overload their calendars, fill their dashboards, and spread themselves thin trying to do everything.

But growth doesn’t come from doing more things.
It comes from doing fewer things better.

When you focus on the right domino, everything else falls into place.

The Domino Effect of Success

In The ONE Thing, Keller uses a brilliant metaphor: the domino effect.

A physicist discovered that one domino can knock over another domino 50% larger than itself.
That means a single 5mm domino can eventually topple a domino the size of the Empire State Building — if you line them up right.

It’s the perfect metaphor for scaling up a business.

You don’t need to do everything at once.
You need to find your first domino — the one action that triggers a chain reaction of success.

Success is sequential, not simultaneous.

The Six Lies Between You and Success

Keller identifies six “lies” that derail focus and keep leaders stuck in the whirlwind:

1. Everything Matters Equally
2. Multitasking Works
3. Discipline Is a Constant State
4. Willpower Is Always Available
5. Balance Is the Goal
6. Big Is Bad

These lies feel productive — but they’re actually distractions.

The truth is that focus, not force, drives results. The most successful leaders simplify, prioritize, and align their teams around the single action that moves the flywheel forward.

Scaling Up with The ONE Thing

Every quarter, we ask leadership teams one question:

“If your team could accomplish only one thing this quarter, what would make the greatest impact on the business?”

Once that’s clear, we align every goal, KPI, and meeting rhythm around that focus.

The result?
Less noise. More progress.
And a team that knows exactly where to apply its energy.

Because scaling up isn’t about doing more — it’s about doing the right thing, consistently.

Final Thought

Extraordinary success rarely comes from a single breakthrough moment.
It comes from focus, discipline, and the daily decision to pursue your ONE Thing — over and over again.

The question isn’t how much you can do.

It’s how much impact you can create by doing less — better.

Want to clarify your company’s ONE Thing and build focus into your execution rhythm?

Contact me at tedb@strategyandexecution.com.au to schedule a free 30-minute discovery meeting.