We’re probably all guilty of shaving a yak when we’ve lost sight of our original goal. If you want to see THE classic example, skip to the last minute for some Bryan Cranston gold from in Malcom in the Middle.
Allow me - through a 2005 Seth Godin blog - to explain.
Paraphrasing Seth's example, Yak Shaving is the last in a series of steps toward something you want to do.
“I need to drive to a meeting across town”
“My car’s broken down, but I could borrow my neighbour Jill’s.”
“But it would feel awkward asking because I still haven’t returned her Mongolian pillow”
“I haven’t returned her Mongolian pillow because my dog chewed it and I need to get some authentic replacement stuffing”
The next thing you know you’re at the zoo shaving a Yak, just so you can borrow a car.
In this Friday Fink Tank Col and I compare our Yak Shaving potholes. Col reveals his strategy for avoiding the Yak Shaving, using an unsurprising strategy involving an imaginary Peter Cook.
What your version of Yak Shaving?
