“Every Gambler knows
That the secret to surviving
Is knowing what to throw away
Knowing what to keep”
My favorite part of facilitating through a strategy is when we start to dive into what the team decides needs to be completed in order to reach the strategic vision. It always feels very much like the famous time Oprah told the audience, “You get a car! And you get a Car! And you get a Car! EVERYONE GETS A CAR!” Except for it is, “You get an initiative, and you get an Initiative! And you get an Initiative! EVERYONE GETS AN INITIATIVE!”
This isn’t unique to the newbies. Everyone does this. We have this ideal that we will work hard and get all the things done and be a perfect and completely transformed company within a year. This is why it is helpful to have a facilitator in the room to hold everyone accountable.
What actually happens when we walk out with this many initiatives is that we may cross one off the list, but it might not be the most important one, and we certainly achieve less than when we would if we had clear priorities and a deployment plan.
The reality is that strategy is simple, and simple is hard. To achieve success and transformation we need to prioritize. 3 is the magic number. And, in case you are wondering, I know the trick where you try and shove one initiative into the other because it is, “So close to the other one.” It doesn’t work. Trust me. Everyone thinks they are different. Everyone thinks they can achieve more. You are different, you are unique, and you are special- just not in this way.
You must, “Know what to throw away, and Know what to keep” to paraphrase the lines from this week. This doesn’t mean you have to throw them away for good, but for the time it takes to deploy the initiative, you need to forget about them. Put all the energy behind the critical few and achieve those gamechangers.
Then, and only then, do you go back, look at how that has transformed your business and decide the next priority(ies). You will go farther faster, if you can harness the power or prioritization.
This is the version I grew up on. Who would have thought that listening to Kenny Rogers on all those family car trips would lead me to writing a blog post one day.