Local Maximum - Getting There, Breaking Through

I heard the term "Local Maximum" not too long ago while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Tim Ferriss Show. He was interviewing Matt Mullenweg, who cofounded WordPress and Automattic. The guy's pretty amazing. He just turned 30, but has been named one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web, Inc.com’s 30 under 30, and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web. WordPress powers 22% of the entire web, and Automattic is valued at $1B+.

So when I heard the term "local maximum", I sat up and took notice. I had to learn more. Seth Godin recently posted on the topic, here. His stuff is always awesome, so it's well worth a read. He approaches it mostly from a business perspective; I want to paint using broader strokes.

I've talked about this with some of my trusted colleagues (thanks Doug, Rob, Jennifer and Frank), and the best way to know if you're at local max is if you are able to "play several moves ahead" in whatever interaction you're in. If you're in sales, this could mean that you are positioning yourself on an introductory call with a client for a specific conversation or conclusion that will take place 3 calls down the line. You script it, and the script is followed far more often than not.

When you are performing at local max you can coast and outperform most of your colleagues. It's awesome, but it comes with some downsides. For example, many times I have seen professionals get to local max, coast for a while, get bored, and move on to something new. They can't take the monotony of over-performing without exertion!

Now take that concept and apply it to another area in life. Are we approaching local max spiritually? How about in our dating or marriage relationships? Are we keeping up on our physical fitness?

Seth Godin says that if we are not satisfied with local max, we can push beyond it. We can learn more, stretch more, dig a little deeper. Strangely, though, we don't continue in a linear path up and to the right! There will be a dip as we get out of our comfort zone. Our performance decreases, or there may be more frustration in our relationships. This is a frightening place, and the fear tells us to go back to local max - most of us will do just that.

But what if you've caught a glimpse of what you can become? What if you sense that there is something more out there, beyond what you previously thought possible? For some of us, there will be no going back. Pushing through is painful!

If we persist in learning, stretching, and growing - despite the pain - we will be rewarded in a grander way than we ever imagined. Think market domination big. Think top 1% in the world big. Think intimacy and happiness at fairy tale levels, only better, because we got there through all of the struggles and pain and we are stronger for it. This is the Big Max.

So how do we break through local max and get to big max? Here's a few key things:

• Make a study of the best books on the subject, noting and implementing key principles
• Talk with people who are world class in that area
• Meditate daily, envisioning your goal
• Get up and get to work!

________

Steve Underwood is a technology sales professional with 13 years of experience. He is currently focusing on large account acquisitions for AtTask, Inc, and is based in sunny San Diego, CA.