Spot It.
Everything on the list is marked important. You start the week with a plan and end it having handled one urgent request after another. Big projects sit half-finished while the team jumps from fire to fire. People are busy and tired, yet the business doesn't seem to move forward much. When someone asks what comes first, the honest answer is "all of it."
Sight It.
When everything is a priority, nothing is. Usually there is no agreed way to decide what matters most, so whoever is loudest or most recent wins. Owners often say yes to every customer request and every good idea, and the team takes its cues from that. There is also no clear line between work that grows the business and work that simply keeps it running.
Solve It.
Bring order to the list:
- Write down everything currently called a priority, all in one place.
- Sort each item: does it grow the business, protect it, or just keep things running?
- Choose no more than three grow or protect items for the next 90 days. Everything else waits or gets handed off.
- Agree on one question the team asks before taking on new work: "Does this help one of our three?"
Expect some discomfort. Saying "not yet" is part of the fix.
Fixed it yourself? Great. Want help making it stick? Talk to a Troubleshooter.