Everyone says they want to do it. They know it’s key to their success. They spend a lot of time and energy talking about it. Meetings are held. Processes put in place. But real results are rare.
What is this elusive, magical thing that could change our lives?
Prioritisation.
It sounds simple – decide on what’s most important and focus on that. But simple doesn’t mean easy. So, what gets in the way of prioritisation and what can we do about it?
Here are some of the barriers I’ve noticed over the years, as a leader myself and now working with individuals and teams grappling with making their to-do lists meaningful and manageable.
🤫I say it but I don’t mean it. Many of us talk about wanting to prioritise but when push comes to shove we have a deeper commitment to holding on to everything, ‘just in case’. That may be driven by fear of failure (‘what if I prioritise this and I’m wrong’), a lack of trust in others (‘only I can do this properly’) or a desire to please (‘I can’t let them down’). Sometimes it’s a messy mixture of all of these, often with an extra dollop of ‘my work = my self-worth’ thrown in for good measure.
😵The complexity and uncertainty of the systems we operate in makes it pretty hard to choose where to focus. Can I really put most of my eggs in this basket? Will they be safe? And what if no-one even wants eggs tomorrow? Sometimes we just don’t know enough about what matters most or what will work – is there clear evidence for the thing we’re choosing? And are we sure we can deliver it?
🤼What’s mine is not yours. In organisations there’s an inherent risk that what I prioritise isn’t what’s most important to you and vice versa. If these tensions aren’t surfaced, they have the potential to do a lot of damage to team trust and collaboration. I tend to think of this tension as water from leaky pipes – it has to go somewhere, and it will wreak havoc along the way. The patch job of a high-level strategy that makes everyone feel ‘their thing’ is a priority won’t do.
🤗Optimism and hope. As humans we have a striking ability to believe in our potential. Perhaps driven by a sense of our own mortality, we’re ravenous to do, be, make, have, know and see more. The idea of subtraction feels less comfortable. Even ‘enough’ seems like a deficit. You only get one chance, so why not bite off more than you can chew?
There are many more constraints out there, from the ever-rising expectations of our citizens or customers through to incoherent performance incentives that tell us to focus but then punish us when we do. So, how can we really prioritise and get things done that matter?
🔎Acknowledge what’s hard. At the outset of any prioritisation conversation, either individual or collective, explore and face up to what’s going to get in the way. Look back and learn from previous attempts (and successful ones!) and get out on the table all the things you’ll need to vigilant about as the process unfolds. You might even have a prioritisation Bingo card in your meetings that helps you catch old, unhelpful patterns (you know the ones: ☠️scare-mongering about what will happen if we cut this; 👿blaming others for what’s on your shoulders or 💩dodging challenge by slinging mud somewhere else)
🔮Examine your own mindset. Try this as an exercise: imagine stopping, reducing or slowing down the things that you say aren’t your top priorities. What would you do? Who would you need to speak to and what would you be saying? Close your eyes and visualise those actions and conversations. Now tap into what that feels like. What is awful about it? This way you can start to uncover what you’re really committed to and what you’re assuming about the world. And once you know that you can begin to shift it.
🧮Root yourself in the evidence. Whatever tool you might be using – the urgent Vs important matrix, a ‘Must / Should / Could and Won’t’ sorting, a SWOT analysis or a mapping of impact Vs difficulty to identify the quick wins and transformational possibilities – make sure you do it equipped with real data. Challenge yourselves and each other on what you really know, beyond gut feelings or previous experience. I’m not saying these aren’t valid too, just that if you’re going to be making big and difficult choices, at least be sure you’ve tested them properly.
😢Manage the change. Prioritisation involves loss, probably one of the hardest human emotions to deal with. So go into it mindful of the change curve that people will be going through as the decisions emerge – the denial, anger and grief of it all. How you do this is the subject of another blog, but one thing to highlight here is good two-way communication. (And those of you who know me will understand that what I mean by that is listen more than you talk).
Our struggle for focus is something I expect to come back to. But for now, I’m prioritising spending some time with my kids.
I would love to hear more from all of you about what hinders and helps you and your teams when it comes to meaningful prioritisation – let me know!
