Every time we sit down for our quarterly pulsing session, our leadership team ends up with a massive list of fifteen critical priorities that we try to turn into Rocks. How do we develop the discipline to limit ourselves to three to five Rocks when everything feels incredibly urgent?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The belief that everything is urgent is a symptom of a leadership team that is reacting to the business rather than steering it. When you try to focus on fifteen different things at once, you fail to execute any of them with true excellence. You must embrace the EOS® principle that less is more.

During your quarterly planning, start by brainstorming a master list of potential priorities. Once the list is complete, use the Keep, Kill, Combine method. Challenge every item on the list. Ask if this goal must be accomplished in the next ninety days, or if it can wait until next quarter. Combine similar initiatives into a single, cohesive objective.

Force the team to vote. Each member gets a limited number of votes to select the absolute top priorities. This exercise forces healthy conflict and healthy debate. If a priority does not make the top five, it gets moved to the long-term Issues List on your V/TO®. It is not forgotten; it is simply scheduled for a time when you actually have the capacity to handle it.