This is a place for displaying some concepts of the Sherpa System.
Please click here for the official Sherpa website.
The Prioritization Trap
The word “priority” first appeared in the English language in the 1400s, and it meant “the most important thing.” The word was only ever used in the singular until recently, but now we talk about “priorities.” But having multiple priorities can distort your thinking.
Warren Buffet once offered some free advice to his personal pilot, Mike Flint. He told Flint to write down 25 goals he wanted to achieve. Then, Buffet said, cross out the bottom 20 items on the list, saying “Make a commitment never to do these things.” Why would he say this?
Our time, energy, and most of all our attention, are limited resources. Spreading those resources too thin is a surefire formula for falling short of your goals. That’s the prioritization trap.
FACTS:
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Our attention is a finite resource.
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We can only handle a limited number of goals.
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We are most successful when we deliberately choose what not to do.
On a mountain, climbers can experience snow-blindness – when the snow is coming down so thick that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. The same thing can happen in the office storm of emails and quests. Academics call this priority-blindness.
Success in one endeavor means saying “no” to many others. Southwest Airlines is a perfect example. They offer no extras and no seat bookings. Their no-frills approach has allowed them to say “yes” to their main product: the most affordable airline tickets in the business – and made them one of the biggest successes in the airline industry
SOLUTIONS:
1. Make sure all your projects are in your Attention Budget.
2. Highlight the top 3 (or more if you dare) to show they are active.
3. Move the others to the Do-not-Do (DND) list or your Dream list. We'll get into those as we work through the Sherpa System.
“If everything is important, then nothing is.”
- Patrick Lencioni,
business writer and author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
