TechExec 12: Toothbrush Test, 5-Minute Rule, and Bikeshedding

(Total read time: 6 minutes)

Hey there,

Welcome to the 12th edition of TechExec - the newsletter that turbocharges your growth to become a Tech Executive!

Please read through the next paragraph, as I need a favor from you all!

Believe it or not, it’s been 3 months since I started writing TechExec 🤯. I hope reading all twelve editions so far have been worth your time❤️.

Every week, a few of you reply back to your emails and give me feedback on the latest edition of TechExec. And I love reading those. However, today, I am at a crossroads with TechExec!

In edition 6, I described what a product-market fit (PMF) is, and how PMF is needed before scaling. Today, I need to know whether TechExec has achieved the PMF before finalizing it’s expansion📈 plans!

So, can you please do me a favor?

• Go to the TechExec Home Page and find your favorite edition.

• Write a couple of sentences about what you loved about that particular edition.

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Every week, I share a new set of BLTs, where BLTs stand for:

• 💼 B - a Business concept/theory/story

• 💝 L - a lifestyle advice

• 🤖 T - a Tech explainer

This week’s BLTs are:

💼 B - Toothbrush Test

💝 L - 5-Minute Rule

🤖 T - Bikeshedding

Now to the main content …

💼 B - Toothbrush Test

The Toothbrush Test might sound like a dentist's recommendation, but it's actually Alphabet (parent company of Google) co-founder Larry Page’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) mantra. This unique approach has been instrumental in shaping Alphabet's M&A strategy and has contributed to its acquisition of successful platforms like YouTube and Android.

So, what exactly is the Toothbrush Test? The test is simple, yet profound in its implications. Before Google considers acquiring a company, Larry Page asks:

If the answer is YES, then the company has passed the famed 'toothbrush test'🎉

In a world where M&A decisions often hinge on financial metrics and market share, Page's approach offers a refreshing perspective. This user-centric approach resonates with the frequency of usage and indispensability of a product, much like our trusty toothbrushes that we reach for every morning and night. It serves as a litmus test for gauging the potential ubiquity and daily relevance of a product in the consumer's life. In essence, it is not just about how many people use a product, but how often they use it and how integral it is to their daily routines.

💝 L - 5-Minute Rule

Before this newsletter, I used to write on my blog, though inconsistently. Then the newsletter idea came along, but I wasn’t confident I could do that on a weekly basis. All my writings have been sporadic, and I needed to ensure that I could force myself to write quality content. And that’s when I came across the 5-minute rule! So what exactly is the 5-minute rule? Allow me to unravel its mysterious power.

Here's the deal: All you need to do is commit to working on the task for a mere five minutes. It's a tiny window of obligation with a tempting escape hatch—if you feel like quitting after five minutes, you're free to do so.

But here's where the magic happens. By setting this condition, you cleverly trick your brain into perceiving the task differently. It's as if your brain says, "Hold up! Five minutes? That's shorter than the Kay and Peele videos we were about to watch. We can handle five minutes!"

Suddenly, that once-imposing task becomes more manageable. The five-minute barrier acts as a psychological gateway, giving you the push to get started. And here's the fascinating part: More often than not, once you complete those initial five minutes, you'll find yourself unexpectedly engrossed in the task. The momentum builds, and you might just keep going.

Even if you decide to stop after the promised five minutes, you've accomplished something extraordinary—you've overcome the biggest obstacle of all: getting started!

🤖 T - Bikeshedding

One of my all-time favorite books is “Parkinson’s Law” by C. Northcote Parkinson. It is a collection of short essays explaining how bureaucratic expansion is inevitable as work increases to fill the time allotted for it. Extremely real, timeless, and funny—the three things I look for in a book!

In one of the essays, there is a fictional committee whose job was to approve plans for a nuclear power plant but ended up spending the majority of its time on trivial issues like what materials to use for the staff bike shed.

It's an apt metaphor for how people give disproportionate weight to trivial issues while more serious ones go unaddressed. As always, the software developer community picked up on this phenomenon and came up with a now-popular term called Bikeshedding!

Bikeshedding is prevalent in tech industries, where teams might spend hours debating over the color scheme of an app while overlooking serious coding bugs. It's a pitfall that many teams unwittingly fall into, wasting precious time and resources on issues that are relatively unimportant.

So, how do we avoid this pervasive problem? First, it's crucial to prioritize tasks based on their importance and impact. Trivial details that don't significantly affect the end result should be given less attention. Second, setting clear objectives and keeping the team focused can also help minimize bikeshedding. Lastly, fostering an environment where everyone feels their voices are heard can reduce the urge to dwell on trivialities. By doing so, we shift our attention towards building functional and efficient solutions, rather than getting tangled up in the color of the metaphorical bike-shed.

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Until next time!

Gaurav