There are two axes to effectiveness, no matter how you slice it.

  1. what you’re doing
  2. how you’re doing it

Or another mental model

  1. are you going in the right direction?
  2. are you going there fast enough?

Both axes are necessary The big mistake people make is in not separating them. They are almost always capable of being evaluated and talked about separately. Don’t worry about how much progress you’re making, or how efficiently you are working until you know you’re headed in the right direction. And don’t worry about how you’re approaching a task, what tools you’re using and how you measure success, until you figure out what that task is supposed to be.