Companies achieve more, more quickly, when they focus on just a few, clear objectives at any one time.

At the heart of this is a paradox - we achieve more by doing less. Although few of us truly understand the limits of our abilities, we really shine when we are focused on just a few objectives – ideally one!

The mistake many executives make is to confuse setting the pace with increasing the number of priorities they expect their people to pursue. But setting stretching goals and demanding great results is completely different to laying down too many objectives and simply confusing your people.

The impact that effective prioritisation can have on organisational performance was brought home to me this week at meetings I had at two of my clients.

The first meeting was with a client that is struggling to maintain historic growth levels. In that meeting the executive team felt unable to reduce their long list of ‘strategic’ priorities, because each item, on its own, was a good idea and they didn’t want to stop doing anything that might help re-start their growth.

Their problem is that by pursuing the long list of projects the executives will be unable to give their biggest priorities sufficient attention to deliver them effectively.

The second meeting was with a client that has continued to thrive through the downturn, and was a completely different experience. The CEO refused to allow his team to pursue half of the ideas discussed until they had, in his words, taken the first set of projects “off the agenda.”

The result was a high degree of energy and a strong feeling of confidence that they will deliver their priorities and achieve their targets.

How well does your organisation set and pursue the few priorities that will have the biggest business benefits?

© Stuart Cross 2009. All rights reserved

Following on from my previous post about focus and pace, I gained a reminder of its importance from one of my clients yesterday.

We have recently been working together on developing options for new growth for his business, and have identified six high-potential opportunities. At the start of the meeting my client said, “There’s only one of these opportunities I want to pursue. It’s much bigger than the other opportunities, it fits best with who we are, and we know how to pull it off. We need to focus on this one so that we can really get going.”

The energy of the meeting immediately increased, and I am confident that the momentum gained will quickly transfer to the rest of the organisation.

It’s tempting to keep our options open and pursue several different avenues. But for each avenue pursued, energy and pace is dissipated. Pushing hard on a few fronts, not pushing a little on many fronts, is the key to making substantial and rapid strategic progress.

My client can always return to the opportunities at a later date – after they have succeeded with their current priority. And after yesterday’s session I’m very confident that they will succeed.

© Stuart Cross 2009. All rights reserved.