How to Prioritize Critical Issues

20 Years at MSFT - Reflection #18 - Issues and Tissues Triage skills have become a surprisingly important success factor as I've grown the corporate ladder. The higher your level or your role, the more you are counted on to set the priorities (and non-priorities) for the organization, and resolve mis-aligned priorities amongst team members. New items come on the radar every day, so my triage reflex has to be both fast and accurate. One aspect of the triage that can feel a bit ruthless is separating out the "issues" - items that are genuine risk or opportunity for the business - from the "tissues" - items that can elicit high emotional response, but ultimately carry low business impact. Even more challenging is if a "tissue" is not properly handled, it can become an "issue". Long ago, the wise Faizal K. shared his litmus test: "Will this be something I care about in 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days? 5 years?" Over 15 years later, I still apply this test virtually every day to evaluate the "tissues" and invest time in issues my team members may care about days or months from now. This often surfaces in the form of challenging collaborations with other colleagues, where frustration short-term can morph into more significant problems long-term. I use a similar framework to think thru potential "issues": "Can this make a material difference to the performance of the business? If so, on what time horizon?" While it's not the only factor that determines my personal investment, its a significant one. Experience helps a ton in refining your ability to differentiate and triage. When you are more junior, one bad meeting can feel like an issue, but as you gain perspective, you may consider that a tissue. But there are plenty of cases where even seasoned leaders have fallen short, and every corporate history book has such stories - some even involve throwing chairs. At a minimum, I've learned a ton from seasoned leaders like Derrick and Jordi who have been clear-minded on their triage of issues, but were still able to show just the right amount of empathy to help those impacted process and understand the decision. It's earned them a ton of loyalty. Credit to my lovely wife Naila Valliani for coining "issue or tissue" :)

Do you and your team struggle with competing priorities? Regardless of your role, business leader or practitioner, over the years I've learned that no matter the company, industry, start-up or enterprise, we have too many strategic initiatives and it gets in the way of focus and progress. 😤 What creates distraction from what we truly need to accomplish is: ✅ New TRENDS, TERMS, and TECH TOYS! ✅ There's more work than resources & funding. This creates DRIFT ✅ As things drift, we experience a lag with closure, resulting in FATIGUE ✅ As fatigue sets in, we forget our original PURPOSE and we digress. The cycle then repeats and it feels like an endless loop of projects without proper closure and celebrations. While this won't solve everything, it'll be a good start. It's worked for me in the past: ✍ Create a list of all the things that's requiring your time or the teams time ✍ Tag them as H (high value), M (medium value), L (low value) [you choose how you define value. For me I've used loose rules like "Is it aligned with our priorities and the companies mission? Keep it simple] ✍ Anything of H & M keep, anything tagged as L think about how to offload. [It may require a talk with your boss to say these lower value activities are distracting the team from the high-value activities, is there a way to delegate to de-prioritize? OR. It may require a discussion about constrained resources and budget, and how to best prioritize efforts so you can apply resources accordingly] ✍ Always prioritize resources and funding to the H's, and whatever is left over to the M's. [When asked about progress on the M's, you say the team is doing the best it can with the workload of the higher priority times. If things need to progress faster, its a good idea to discuss capacity & funding] ✍ When someone asks you to do something else, DO NOT immediately say 'YES'. [You say "I know the work is important and it needs to get done, I want to help. let me assess the teams capacity & bandwidth so I can get back to you with realistic timeframes to make sure its acceptable for you", or. something like that] ✍ Watch out for your own issues with over committing. Be reasonable about what you can and cannot accomplish in a 50-70 hour week. [Sorry I can't help those who have a 40 hour work weeks, never had that 😢] More to come ... sign up for my upcoming Newsletter! https://lnkd.in/ejvkkuGi (I'm a practitioner turned C-Suite exec 4x's over and one of the first Chief Data & Chief AI Officers appointed back in 2016. I have a lot of scrapped knees & bruised elbows to share). 

Monday Momentum: The "Rule of Threes" is a principle that suggests things that come in threes are inherently more satisfying, effective, and memorable than other numbers of things. This principle is often used in various fields, including business, marketing, and communication. For many years we started each week on Monday with an executive meeting. Each person came prepared to articulate their 3 priorities for the week. I found this an excellent habit, as did the team. It allowed each team member to get an insight into what others were focused on; it created opportunity for clarity, questions, and collaboration; it focused the week. You can also chunk the concept down to your personal daily goals. I.E. What are the 3 top things each of you will accomplish today? Here are practical examples of applying the Rule of Threes in eight business categories: ( Yes I know, it should be three...) 1. Communication and Presentation: When giving a presentation on a new product, structure the content around three main features: innovation, usability, and affordability. 2. Product or Service Offerings: If you run a restaurant, focus your menu on three main categories: appetizers, entrees, and desserts. This simplifies choices for customers. 3. Strategic Planning: In your annual strategic plan, highlight three key priorities for the upcoming year, such as market expansion, product diversification, and cost optimization. 4. Marketing Campaigns: Design a marketing campaign for a software product with three main benefits: user-friendly interface, advanced features, and excellent customer support. 5. Team Building: When forming project teams, consider creating smaller groups of three team members each. This facilitates efficient collaboration and idea sharing. 6. Problem-Solving: Faced with a business challenge, propose three potential solutions: improve internal processes, enhance customer engagement, or explore new market opportunities. 7. Customer Service: Train customer service representatives to focus on three key aspects: prompt response times, empathetic communication, and effective issue resolution. 8. Financial Management: In financial planning, prioritize three financial goals: achieving a specific revenue growth percentage, implementing cost-saving measures, and maximizing overall profitability. While the Rule of Threes is a guideline, it's important to note that it might not be applicable in all situations. The key is to use it where it enhances clarity and simplicity rather than forcing it into every aspect of business operations. When sharing your threes be Clear, Concise, and Compelling! Have a momentum filled week of threes. Sean 

As fighter pilots, we’re often faced with multiple competing priorities. It can feel overwhelming if we don’t remain focused on what’s most important. Early in our training, we’re taught to follow a logical method to prioritize during an emergency. 1️⃣ Maintain Aircraft Control: Focus on the thing that is most important. In aviation, it’s flying the airplane. Sometimes we can get so overly focused on distractors that we forget to focus on what is most important. 2️⃣ Analyze the Situation: Take the time to figure out what’s actually wrong. What are the critical issues? If we react too quickly without fully analyzing the situation, we can take the wrong action which can exacerbate the problem. 3️⃣ Take the Proper Action: Once we’ve properly analyzed the situation, we make the best possible decision with the information we have. If time allows, we can seek input from our wingmen (teammates) or request help from subject matter experts . . . we don’t have to make decisions alone. 4️⃣ Land as Soon as Conditions Permit: Once we’ve taken action, it’s time to assess where to go from here. Where’s the best place to land? Sometimes, it’s not where we originally intended. We may have to modify our plan. We need to be able to adjust in real time to ensure we have a safe place to bring it in for a landing. In today's fast-paced world, the ability to prioritize effectively in high-pressure situations is crucial. Whether it's in our personal or professional life, the ability to manage tasks and responsibilities efficiently can reduce stress, enhance decision-making, and improve productivity. #FighterPilotMindset #prioritization #personaldevelopment #aviation