Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

In 4DX, there are two types of metrics for this purpose: lag measures and lead measures. Lag measures describe the thing you’re ultimately trying to improve.

To summarize these observations more succinctly: If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive.

Hearing a succession of mediocre singers does not add up to a single outstanding performance.” In other words, talent is not a commodity you can buy in bulk and combine to reach the needed levels:

The 4DX framework is based on the fundamental premise that execution is more difficult than strategizing.

Discipline #2: Act on the Lead Measures

The task of a craftsman, they conclude, “is not to generate meaning, but rather to cultivate in himself the skill of discerning the meanings that are already there.”

In other words, lead measures turn your attention to improving the behaviors you directly control in the near future that will then have a positive impact on your long-term goals.

The Superstars

Though Grant’s productivity depends on many factors, there’s one idea in particular that seems central to his method: the batching of hard but important intellectual work into long, uninterrupted stretches.

There’s a premium to being the best.