Simplify Until People Can Act

I am back from an extended road trip with the family, and somewhere between the fishing rods, foosball tables, golf courses and negotiations about screen time, I was reminded of a lesson that applies equally to parenting, sport and business:

You cannot have too many priorities.

Well, technically, you can. You can write them all down, colour-code them, load them onto Monday.com and discuss them at a weekly meeting. You can even call all seven of them “critical”. What you cannot do is give all seven the attention they require to succeed.

One of the great joys of this holiday was seeing how much the boys have grown in confidence and independence. At Umngazi, they were crystal clear about their priorities. They wanted to spend time in the games room, play foosball, hit tennis balls, fish and roam around outside. It helped that we kept the iPads locked in the car.

Umngazi makes this relatively easy for parents. It is the kind of place where children disappear into a happy ecosystem of activities, returning periodically for food, dry clothing or financial assistance. Caroline and I could spend time with them without needing to choreograph every minute of their enjoyment.

The latter part of the holiday was different. Roadtripping back to Cape Town and spending time in Plett and at Fancourt, there were fewer children around, less organised entertainment and considerably more parental heavy lifting. Fancourt may offer approximately 5,000 wholesome activities, but it also has large television screens and video games, which somehow remain more compelling to children than the magnificent natural surroundings their parents have paid handsomely for them to appreciate.

This was also the working part of the holiday. Intentionally, we found ourselves back on the laptops and phones at that famous pie rest stop on the way back to Port Elizabeth, while the kids played soccer outside. Caroline shipped off to go check out a new lodge in the Delta, and I flew my Mom in to help with the boys for the final stretch, as my priorities included spending time with her… and playing golf.

The screen-time battle, therefore, became increasingly difficult to win, partly because I was not always available to offer the alternative. It is hard to deliver a passionate lecture about family connection while carrying a golf bag towards the first tee. And you know what? It’s ok. The lesson was not that I had chosen the wrong priorities. It was that every choice had a consequence.

When my priority was being completely present with the boys, I needed to put everything else aside and sit there for hours watching them sandboard. When my priority was to play golf or complete some work, I needed to accept that their version of a good time might involve something I would not have chosen for them. Focus requires honesty before it requires discipline, hey.

BTW, what a month for sport it’s been. And all of it gave us some good stuff to correlate with this theme.

The Springboks continue to demonstrate that winning today and building for tomorrow need not be opposing objectives. The wider South African rugby system is consciously developing depth, giving younger players meaningful opportunities and strengthening the pipeline beneath the established team. The Junior Springboks have just defended their world championship title, beating France 16-5 in the final, which is encouraging evidence that the next generation is not merely standing in a queue waiting for the older players to retire.

Rassie Erasmus understands that South Africa cannot arrive at the next Rugby World Cup with only an ageing group of trusted performers and a few promising youngsters carrying tackle bags. The priority is not simply to win the next match. It is to create enough tested depth to win the matches that matter most. It’s a very different view from 10 years ago, when youngsters first needed to “earn their stripes.”

Spain demonstrated a similar discipline at the FIFA World Cup. The individual superstars were everywhere. Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot, Lionel Messi attempted to lead Argentina to consecutive titles, and Lamine Yamal continued his remarkable rise. Yet Spain won its second World Cup by defeating Argentina 1-0 after extra time, having conceded only one goal across eight matches. 

Spain did not discard the technical, possession-based identity that had made it successful in the past. It evolved it. The team retained its ability to control matches while adding defensive discipline, width, directness, and tactical flexibility. Even in the final, when its most celebrated attacking players were struggling to make the difference, substitute Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal.

The system created the conditions for an individual to succeed. It was not dependent on one superstar producing magic every time the plan became uncomfortable.

Then there was Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon. Alexander Zverev is an exceptional tennis player operating at an extraordinary level. He took the first set of the Wimbledon final and demonstrated again that he belongs near the top of the men’s game. Yet Sinner recovered and beat him in four sets to retain his Wimbledon title.

The difference at that level is seldom talent alone. Everyone is talented. Everyone has a powerful serve, a sophisticated support team and a collection of compression garments that would confuse a small medical practice. Nope… The distinction is clinical execution.

Sinner, like Djokovic, Federer and Nadal before him, has developed the ability to reproduce the essential parts of his game under pressure. His advantage is not that he never loses points or makes mistakes. His advantage is that he repeatedly returns to the priorities that make his game work.

Across all three examples, the pattern is remarkably consistent. The Springboks are building capacity without abandoning performance. Spain preserved its established strength while removing its limitations. Sinner executed his fundamentals more consistently than an extremely capable opponent.

A priority is not simply something important. Many things are important. A priority is the thing that receives disproportionate attention, resources and protection during a particular period.

This is where leaders frequently create confusion. We describe six initiatives as priorities because we do not want to disappoint any of their sponsors. Unfortunately, the organisation then has to divide its attention across all six, while each initiative continues to operate as though it should receive first place.

The word “priority” originally referred to what came first. For much of its history, it did not even have a plural. We eventually pluralised it, presumably because one priority was insufficient for a decent PowerPoint presentation.

The Four Disciplines of Execution captures this through its emphasis on focusing on the wildly important. The Theory of Constraints makes the same point from another angle: performance is limited by a relatively small number of constraints, and improvement efforts produce the greatest return when they are concentrated there. 

The leadership challenge is therefore not to ask, “What are all the things we would like to improve?” It is to ask:

What is the one constraint, capability or outcome that deserves disproportionate attention at this point in time?

Once that choice has been made, the next question is even more uncomfortable:

What are we prepared to delay, reduce or stop in order to execute it properly?

PG's Pro Tip:

When a challenge feels complex, resist the temptation to immediately add more initiatives, measures and meetings. Complexity often creates the reassuring appearance of thoroughness while protecting us from making a difficult choice. Start by identifying the one outcome that matters most during the next 90 days. Then determine the one to three constraints preventing that outcome, the few behaviours that would move those constraints and the scoreboard that will tell you whether progress is happening.

Your team should be able to explain the priority without having to open a strategy document. They should know what matters, what they are expected to do differently and what will temporarily matter less. Try these three actions this week:

1. Name the priority for this season. Complete the sentence: “For the next 90 days, the most important result for our team is…” Use one measurable outcome, not a collection of desirable intentions.

2. Identify the decisive constraint. Ask where progress is actually becoming blocked. Is the constraint demand, sales conversion, capacity, leadership attention, technology, process, capability or decision-making speed?

3. Create a visible execution promise. Turn the strategy into something your customers or employees can experience. It could be a turnaround time, conversion rate, response standard, delivery commitment or weekly lead measure.

AI Prompt:

Use this AI prompt to work through it:

I lead a [describe your business or team]. Our most important outcome for the next 90 days is [insert outcome], but we are currently pursuing these priorities: [list them]. Ask me five questions, one at a time, to identify the one to three constraints that have the greatest influence on the outcome. Then help me select one Wildly Important Goal, define two measurable lead indicators, create a simple weekly scoreboard and identify which current initiatives should be stopped, delayed or subordinated. Challenge me when I describe too many things as priorities. 

The goal is not to simplify the organisation until the work becomes easy.

It is to simplify the thinking until the work becomes clear.

On holiday, this sometimes meant accepting that I could be a present father, an attentive son, a responsible business owner and a committed golfer, but not all four at exactly the same moment.

In business, the same principle applies.

Choose where you need to be. Decide what matters while you are there. Then execute it clinically.

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