Million Dollar Consulting® Mindset
From Alan Weiss

Volume 1 Number 8
August 2011

A monthly newsletter with the objective of quickly and pragmatically helping consultants to improve their craft, results, and lives.

Why Priorities Are Not Accomplished

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. That applies to our own practices as well as our clients. How many emails do you receive with the “!” indication of a priority? How many are really urgent? Most are simply intended to get your attention amidst a ton of email, and pretty much the false alarms encourage us to ignore them (and the legitimate alarms).

Priorities need to be distinguished from the merely important and highly desirable. There are three key criteria that can  help:

• Seriousness is the impact of the effects of an event. This can be deleterious—the building falls down—or salutary—the new client is brought on board.
• Urgency is the need to act with speed. Not all important things are urgent, and not all urgent things are important. The question here is, “Do I miss a key window of opportunity if I don’t act rapidly?” or “Will my condition quickly worsen to unacceptable levels if I don’t act now?”
• Growth is the trend of the issue. Is it stable, growing, or declining?

Obviously, an issue that is not urgent, not serious, and stable or declining is not a priority. Conversely, one that is serious, urgent, and growing demands immediate attention. What criteria, if any other than the “!”, are you applying?!

Case Study

I asked a group of senior executives which of the issues they were facing were of highest priority, and to name them quickly. Eight people rapidly named nearly 30 issues after eliminating duplications. We then applied the above criteria.

We learned three things:

1. Only four of the “priorities” rated as high priority using the objective criteria above on a corporate basis.
2. Senior people tended to view only their own “turf” as their playing field, even thought they have a corporate accountability as senior executives.
3. When all eight focused on just four priorities in concert, they were dealt with in record time.

Priorities aren’t merely “important” in terms of what’s important to a single person in business. They usually transcend business units and you need to ensure they are not in conflict with others’ priorities, or you’ll all be fighting to the death for opposing issues. When that happens, compromise is required or no one achieves their priority. You can watch the U.S. budget battles between the President and Congress to see this in action.

Frequently Asked Question

Q. How do I convince someone else who is vital to achieving one of my priority goals to cooperate and collaborate?

A. Start by asking, “What’s in it for him or her?” They are not going to change necessarily merely because you need something. One of the mistakes that managers make is they demand change, which leads to compliance but not commitment. Find something in the other person’s best interests which will also be achieved through the priority you are trying to accomplish. That way, the cooperation will last long after you’ve made the initial request.

Upcoming

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© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.
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ISSN: 2159-306X

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