When you set priorities, the adage applies: If everything is a priority, then nothing is.
In the acclaimed docudrama "Apollo 13" astronaut Jack Swigert tells crewmates Jim Lovell and Fred Haise his calculations show their damaged spacecraft is coming in too fast and shallow from their moon voyage for reentry. Swigert says they will skip off the earth's atmosphere to die in space.
Lovell, the commander, cuts off the ensuing heated debate about accuracy of the calculations. He reminds Swigert there's a multitude of things that have to go right — in sequence — for their survival during the next few days before reentry is even a factor.
"We are on No. 8," Lovell said, "you're talking about No. 692."
Prioritizing "what matters is the hardest and most critical part of any endeavor; it's also the part that I love the most: the process of figuring it out." said Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread.
Determine Your Priorities
What successful businesses have in common is "they know the jobs they're doing for their customers, and they've figured out how to do those jobs better than anyone else," said Shaich, author of "Know What Matters."
They are persistent and consistent in asking "'What matters?'" he said. And, "they are disciplined in bringing the answers to life."
Set Priorities By Staying One Step Ahead
After nailing down immediate priorities, diagnose what will matter tomorrow. "Clearly see it, feel it and communicate it to the people you need to help you bring it to life," Shaich said.
Doing so, whether for today or tomorrow, "dramatically increases the probability you will produce the outcomes you desire," he said.
Specifically, regarding customers, prioritizing "requires the company to intensely imagine what the customers will want in the future before they know it," said Behnam Tabrizi, author of "Going On Offense: A Leader's Playbook for Perpetual Innovation."
Stay Persistent On Seeking Answers
The power behind lasting innovation comes from the willingness to continually ask what matters and "to stay with that question a little longer than it feels comfortable," Shaich said.
"If you want to create something of enduring relevance in this world," he said, "Don't skip this step."
Remember Where Your Bread Is Buttered
It's hard to succeed in business without sales. And prioritizing sales means "obsess about customers," Tabrizi said.
Companies can become complacent about pleasing customers without even realizing it, Shaich adds: "It's too easy to fall into reaction mode — you just get up in the morning and do whatever is on your plate that day. You lose sight of the bigger picture of where you're trying to go, and why it matters."
Tabrizi, who has consulted for the world's biggest tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, says prioritize customers "even if that hurts your margins in the short term. This sometimes means worrying more about customers than financial markets."
Seize The Moment When You Set Priorities
Deliberate about big decisions. "But then move quickly when opportunities arise," Tabrizi said. Be bold, he continues, as "there's no longer safety in playing safe."
While boldness can be risky, the reward is that success is the ultimate differentiator, Tabrizi said. "It catapults companies from their competition. If you refrain from boldness, you'll always have to deal with rivals and you'll never get much respect from investors."
Shaich minimizes risk like this: "I don't like to gamble. I like to make smart bets, where the odds are on my side. A smart bet is not a certain one, but neither is it a gamble."
Get It Done
The difference between a poorly run company and a great company, Shaich said, often comes down to not just identifying your priorities, but getting them accomplished.
"There are many things in life and in business that you can't control," he said. "But what you can control is what your organization focuses on and how it uses the three Ts: time, talent and treasury."
Shaich says it is up to a company's CEO to ensure that time, talent and financial resources are spent on what your team agrees is most important for creating a long-term competitive advantage.
"A good, focused executional system gives you traction," Shaich said. "Vision is great, but without execution, vision won't amount to much. Vision plus execution generates transformation."
