The greatest lesson I learned over the past year is simple: Focus, Focus, and Focus. This mandate applies equally to corporate governance and personal development.
When an organization reaches a certain scale, the most critical challenge is not identifying good business opportunities, but having the discipline to say NO to the majority of them. Because spending money is infinitely easier and faster than earning it, choosing what not to do is the most important decision.
I. The corporate failure of mission creep
We need only look at Vietnam’s largest conglomerates for cautionary tales. Companies like HAGL, Vingroup, and Novaland—all founded on strong real estate brands—fell into the trap of reckless diversification. They invested heavily in golf courses, food production, retail chains, education, hospitals, minerals, hydropower, and more. Vast sums of capital were burned.
They eventually realized their error, belatedly retreating to their core competencies (HAGL to agriculture, Vingroup to real estate and auto, Novaland to pure real estate). Had they specialized earlier and executed each core objective decisively, Vietnam would already have multiple colossal, globally recognized corporations.
FPT, a company celebrated for its progressive culture, also fell into this trap—dabbling in securities, banking, real estate, and retail. While FPT’s brand was strong enough to suggest success in any venture, the reality proved otherwise. FPT ultimately exited finance to concentrate on technology, telecommunications, and education—achieving significant success. If FPT had only focused on technology from the start, we might have our own Samsung today.
Few organizations succeed while doing too many things. Resources (capital and human talent) become fatally dispersed.
II. The organizational barrier to scale
In emerging markets like Vietnam, a lack of focus is an existential threat for three structural reasons:
- Talent scarcity: The supply of high-quality labor is too scarce to staff multiple unrelated ventures effectively.
- Leadership strain: The CEO’s focus (mind-sharing) is fractured. Simply thinking about multiple complex operations simultaneously is exhausting. Example: Waking up, seeing a minor business unit losing money, and spending ten minutes on a furious phone call can ruin the CEO’s entire day.
- Capital constraint: Financial resources are never sufficient, and economic instability is perpetual.
Therefore, for a corporation, Focus means clearly defining your core competency and identifying the most profitable business line. Use all resources to execute that core line until completion. That is a challenge enough.
III. The personal mandate: Focus over fatigue
Personal ineffectiveness is often rooted in the same disease: trying to do everything, wasting effort on trivial pursuits, and ultimately leaving a fragmented career. The human brain is not designed for multitasking—“You cannot grind rice while holding a baby.”
For the individual and the manager, focus means:
- Role fidelity: Do only what your job description mandates. If your primary role is student recruitment, spend all your energy on enrollment, not advising the government on policy. If your job is talent acquisition, obsess over recruiting top talent, not complaining about office space.
- Strategic priorities: Prioritize what benefits your long-term strategic goals. If you need better health, spend time at the gym instead of attending unnecessary social events. If English proficiency is required for promotion, let nothing obstruct your daily study.
- Comparative advantage: Do only what others cannot do better. If you are the only one who can grow the market share from 5% to 15%, dedicate most of your time to that, rather than being dragged into daily operations.
IV. The psychological trap of distraction
The failure to focus often stems from a psychological coping mechanism: distraction is a form of stress relief. When the core, difficult work becomes too stressful or reveals inadequacy, people have a tendency to flee reality by busying themselves with easy, unrelated tasks. This provides the illusion of productivity but is ultimately detrimental to both the individual and the organization.
My personal experience over the last year exemplifies this mandate: I limited myself to three core objectives: (1) Secure financial capital; (2) Recruit top talent and empower them; and (3) Decisively close two strategic M&A transactions. That was all. The remaining time was dedicated to family, gym, reading, golf, and close friends.
There will always be a reason to do something new, but the question that must precede every choice is: Does this genuinely benefit my core strategic priorities and my organization? If the answer is “Yes,” and the benefit is high, execute it. If the benefit is marginal, be brave enough to say NO.
