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Writer's pictureDaniel Ford

The Sith Rule of Two can be Applied to You


While I am making a Star Wars reference this isn’t really about Star Wars. In Star Wars the Sith Rule of Two was this; there will only be a master and an apprentice, one that has the power and the other that craves it. In our personal and professional lives it should never be about power, rather it should be about growth. This article is going to focus on my rule of two; which consists of two sides (personal and professional), two percent growth, and two hours of development per week.


For some time now I have been attempting to mature my framework for improving organizations and the one thing I keep coming back to is personal and professional growth. It seems obvious that in order to grow you must improve; however, many tend to focus on only professional or personal growth. This is a mistake. If you focus too much on personal growth then your career will suffer; and, conversely if you focus too much on your professional growth then your personal relationships will suffer. For this reason you must look to grow both sides in pretty equal proportions so that you flourish.


When searching for the right amount of growth, month over month, I wanted to find the smallest number that could be impactful while not too challenging to attain. That was when I was reminded of an article I read a while back about changing the electricity usage in California (Sorry, I can’t find the article). This company figured out that if you started placing on the electric bill how much electricity you were consuming when compared to your neighbors the habits would change in a positive direction. This resulted in a 2% decrease in consumption, which if I recall correctly, during that one year time period was enough to take Spain off the electrical grid for a month. So, that is how part of my 2% came to be.


Let’s take this to the next level. If you focus on 2% growth month over month then at the end of the first year you will have improved ~26%; and by month 35 you would have improved ~100% from where you are today. Growth is compounded and what better investment is there than to invest in yourself.


How do you get two percent growth then? Well, that is where the second two comes from. I have noticed that the right balance is to dedicate two hours per week to professional and personal growth. If you have the right employer they will want you to focus your two hours per week of training on the job, which equates to 5% of the work week or 25 minutes per day; although I have found it better to dedicate two one hour sessions during the week. The same could be said for personal growth; however, that we should be doing on our own time.


Here is the true Pro Tip for you - If you are a manager, make this mandatory for your teams and now you can get the same growth compounded amongst many people. Think how creatively and innovatively your teams will become when they are consistently improving their skills.


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