Priority Power

"Get your priorities in order." "Set your prioritiesthe automatic impulse of most people is to skip the
straight." "Perform your tasks in order of priority."class and go in early. Think about it though... are you
How often have you heard these statements thrownreally doing your organization any good? Wouldn't you
around? Do you understand what they really mean?be more productive if you went to your class and
There is no doubt that prioritizing your objectives issimply arrived a bit later to the meeting? Sure, it's
important - it helps you get things done with muchnot easy to say no to the boss; however, if you're
less frustration and in the time frame you desire. It'sgoing to do what's best for your organization, the
a sure bet that you'll stay more organized when youchoice is pretty clear to me.
set priorities. The problem is that many people don'tSimply tell your boss that due to a prior and most
really understand what it means to prioritize. It isn'timportant appointment, you won't be able to make it
as simple as making the most urgent thing in your lifeat 8:00; however, you understand that this is
the #1 priority; this is what many, if not most, peopleimportant and you will be there as soon as you
do.possibly can. He may not like it but certainly he will
Working in Corporate America, I've seen so manyrespect your honesty and your courage. Of course,
organizations, divisions and teams run amuck in theyou know the climate within your organization better
area of setting priorities and executing them. Morethan I, so make your own call.
often than not, they commit the mistake of makingLet's go a step further and say that you and your
the most pressing task the #1 priority; sometimes,team have been trying to hammer out the Business
this is the right decision but often times it is notPlanning Presentation but it's been a frustrating road
because the root cause of that pressing task isbecause there is no clear process in place. Let's also
never addressed thereby causing a repeated cycle ofsay that the Business Planning Process Meeting has
addressing the symptom of the urgency.been on the calendar for weeks and has gotten
Smart doctors will tell you that, you can always treatpushed back a few times. Now, with the looming
symptoms; however until you address the rootdeadline of the presentation, the team is asked (or
cause of your ailment, you will most probablyordered) to push back the processes meeting to
succumb to it over and over again (i.e. the commonmake more time for hammering out the presentation.
cold).What do you do? In some cases, I realize that the
Think of it this way: A man goes to the doctor andcall won't rest solely with you and you'll simply comply
complains of a migraine; the doctor prescribes a pillwith the request. If you did have some influence
and the man feels better for a while. The nextthough, what might you do? Sure the presentation is
week, he comes in again with the same problem soimportant but it's also clear that the frustration, the
the doctor prescribes another pill and again he feelsroot cause impeding the completion of the
better only to come back the following week withpresentation is the lack of a process. Since that is the
the same complaint. On his third visit, the doctorcase, that means that while the presentation is the
finally asks the man, "When do you begin to suffermost urgent, it is certainly not more important than
these migraines?" The man replies, "Every time Icreating the process by which it is executed. Once a
think about my ex-wife" to which the doctor replied,process is in place, the frustration of creating the
"Sir, if you really want to cure your migraines forpresentation goes away.
good, stop thinking about your ex-wife."Ok, I know that was quite the long way around but I
Yes, I am over-simplifying for a reason - I want towanted to make a point. With this scenario in mind, it
make it clear that addressing symptoms never work;stands to reason that executing in order of priority
they are only temporary fixes and therefore notdoesn't always work. It is better to set priorities and
important priorities. They may be urgent for instantexecute around them keeping in mind what is most
relief but not most important for complete relief. Toimportant. In other words, even if you chose to push
cure any ailment for good, you must address thethe processes meeting back again, you would be
cause.aware that the process must be established before
Why do I use this analogy? It's because executingyou create the next presentation lest you repeat the
priorities require the same mindset. Before you simplysame cycle. This is the definition of insanity - to
make the most urgent thing in your life your #1continue doing the same thing over and over again
priority, first ponder why it is urgent in the first place.while expecting different results.
There's a good chance that at the root of it, you'llPriority Paralysis
find a cause you can address to make this urgencyPriority Paralysis is what happens when the most
go away permanently. I find that most urgenturgent thing automatically becomes the top priority.
matters, with the exception of life and death, areIn essence, your exercise of prioritizing goes out the
not as important as we are conditioned to believewindow because the most important priorities are
they are. More often than not, these matters areconstantly subordinated to the next urgent thing. It is
only urgent because of the failure to prioritize andeasy to get caught up in the "activity trap" only to
plan effectively.find that you've accomplished nothing that to set out
The fact is that not everything that is urgent isto.
necessarily important and this is where manyTo avoid Priority Paralysis, you must list your priorities
individuals go off track. For instance, you may be atin the order of importance and then execute around
home feeding your child who just got up from a longthem no matter what. If you find that you
nap and in the middle of that, the telephone rings.consistently repeat the same cycle of urgency with
The impulse is to answer the telephone simplyparticular tasks, pause and review and then address
because it's ringing; the ringing makes it urgent but isthe root cause - this is more important.
it really more important than feeding your hungryI realize that in some cases it will be harder to do this
child? Of course it's not. The thing is though that- if you have a very demanding job where the status
many people would pause the feeding and answerquo is king, it may be near impossible; still, if you
the telephone which is a natural impulse that comeswant to achieve at a high level, you must list your
from our conditioning.priorities in order of importance and then execute
It still befuddles me how often I am in a meetingaround them. Make sure that the most important
where the person I am meeting with continuouslyobjectives are not repeatedly subordinated to urgent
answers the telephone each time it rings. This isand less important ones.
because it seems urgent, BUT, is it necessarilyPriority Power
important - could it have waited? Of course it couldPriority Power is what happens when you set clear
have. There's a good reason voicemail was invented.priorities in order of importance and then execute
The first rule of thumb then is to list your priorities inaround them. This is when you understand that even
order of importance, not urgency. There is a clearthough the most important task is not the first to be
difference between the two so think about it beforecompleted, that you are aware that completing it is
you prioritize. The order of importance can taketop priority.
many forms and contexts.To develop Priority Power, practice to address
For instance, in your personal life, you might list yourproblems at the root cause; endeavor to forego the
priorities in the order of what is most important toringing telephone and feed the baby. Know when to
you. At work, you may list your priorities in order ofsay no to an urgent request that is not as important
what is most important to your organization and itsas the priorities you've set. The more you practice,
mission. I realize that you may not always have thethe easier it will become especially after you've
luxury to do this freely at your workplace so just doexperienced the profound and positive results you will
the best you can.undoubtedly achieve.
The point is that feeding your child is always moreIt may seem daunting at first to operate in this
important than answering the telephone unless youfashion but I promise you that if you put Priority
are expecting a phone call that is a matter of life andPower into practice, you will see immediate and
death. This of course does not mean that you neverpositive differences in your life, both personally and
deal with urgent, yet unimportant matters beforeprofessionally. List your priorities in order of
you deal with the important ones. There are timesimportance and then execute around them.
when we must do that; however, if you are awareWhere to Begin I understand that this could be quite
that this is the case then chances are this urgencya circuitous road, especially if you've never tried this
won't become a repetitive cycle for you becausebefore. That noted here's a brief outline of where
you know that the more important priority is toyou can begin your thought process in developing
address the root cause.Priority Power.
In many organizations and in the lives of individuals,Firstly, you may want to start by thinking from a
the goal is to set priorities and then execute themmacro frame of mind and decipher the priorities of
one by one in that order. This approach, as illustratedyour life. The reason for this is that, you will achieve
in the preceding paragraphs, creates a majorgreater success if your other priorities are closely
roadblock to getting things done. This is becausealigned with your life's priorities. The more closely
your #1 priority is not always the task that getsaligned they are, the greater your chances of
done first; it is simply the most important of all thehigh-level success.
objectives you've set to achieve.Once you're comfortable with the priorities you've
Here's what I mean. Let's say you have 3 objectivesset for your life, you can begin to drill down from
on your priority list for the week and you list them inthere into, career, volunteering, faith, softball coaching
order of the most important to the least important.and so on.
Your list might look like this.Hey Dean, what about if I'm in a job where I don't
1. Yoga and Meditation Class - Monday @ 8:00 AMget to influence many decisions; what if for the most
2. Business Planning Session Process Meeting -part people just do as directed? This will undoubtedly
Wednesday @ 10:00 AMhappen in some cases; however, you are not without
3. Business Planning Session Presentation - duea choice. You can still choose to prioritize what's most
Thursday by 5:00 PMimportant for you to achieve in that job.
Now, review this list and think about these items forFor instance, perhaps you continue to execute as
a minute. Just looking at the priorities as they areeveryone else does the urgent but unimportant
which seems more important to you? Let's look at itmatters; however, your top priority may be to
through a simple scenario.convince the senior management staff that there is a
Let's say that Yoga and Meditation Class is whatbetter more efficient way to do things. If you're
gets you psychologically ready for a grueling week atcommitted, I'm sure you can achieve the results you
work; it prepares you to meet whatever challengesdesire.
come head on and without fear. From yourIn the worst case scenario (or best case depending
experience you know you always produceon how you look at it), you may even decide to
significantly better results when you make it a pointwalk away from a job or something else because it
to attend these classes.doesn't align closely enough to the priorities you've
Now let's say that your boss calls you Sundayset for yourself. I have done that on a couple of
afternoon and says, "We'd like to get started earlyoccasions and I haven't regretted my decisions yet
on the Business Planning Session Presentation andand don't think I ever will.
we're calling a meeting for 8:00 AM Monday morning -Stop wasting your time living on the fire truck
can you make it?" What would you say? I know thateveryday and start living on the golf course.