Managing trade-offs, he discovered, was at the core of organizational success. One example that stuck with him was that of a successful bank that decided to do just three things well: checking accounts, savings accounts, and customer service. It traded off higher potential profits in loans or serving business customers in exchange for the money it could make serving more consumers better than other banks. Another such model is Apple, a company that’s chosen to compete in just a handful of product areas when consumers would no doubt try whatever other electronics it chose to manufacture.
