The Key to Effectiveness? Focus

As the health care debate rages on, some politicians are calling on the Obama administration to slow down and get a few tangible things done first (e.g. stop denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions) rather than tackle everything at once. Putting aside the politics of the suggestion, it’s a reasonable comment. Is it really possible to transform the entire health care system in one fell swoop when there are so many complex issues represented by diverse constituents? And is it possible for Obama and his team to do this when they also are transforming the financial system, engineering an economic recovery, bolstering the automobile industry, withdrawing from Iraq, increasing engagement in Afghanistan, building a coalition to fight global warming, and so forth?

Beyond the specifics of health care, these are classic questions of focus and bandwidth — and they have relevance not just for the Obama administration, but for any manager with an ambitious agenda and a desire to get things done. In fact, most managers I talk with these days are struggling with the feeling that there is more to do than is possible in any given day, week, or month — and that no matter how hard they work, it’s impossible to make enough progress. If you are one of these managers, you might want to ask yourself whether the feeling of overload is solely the result of the complex business environment, or whether it is at least partially self-inflicted.

One of the tough truths of management is that we all have trouble making choices. While older and supposedly wiser, we still often act like kids in the candy store who want everything. So we go after too many markets and too many demographics with too many products. We have too many research initiatives, too many locations, and too many special projects or studies. We proliferate products and projects and programs and proposals — each one of which makes good sense by itself, but in the aggregate overwhelm us, our organizations, and our customers.

Some of the best CEOs and managers are those who stop things and get their companies or their teams focused. Jeff Kindler at Pfizer cut out research programs, consolidated locations, and eliminated committees. Gary Rodkin at ConAgra Foods sold off brands and dramatically reduced the number of promotions so that the focus would be on bigger and better rather than “more.” Even General Motors has gotten the message, sold off brands, and focused on far fewer models.

GE’s Chief Learning Officer, Susan Peters, notes that for successful managers at GE “prioritization and focus are keys to doing well. Sure there are other things that are not on the priority list, but you do them differently or more slowly.” It’s good advice at GE, a company that operates in many different industries around the world. But it’s also advice well worth considering for any manager — whether you are president of a small company or president of the United States.

How important is focus to your success as a manager? Do you feel you can focus enough at work to be successful?

Ron Ashkenas is a managing partner of Robert H. Schaffer & Associates, a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the forthcoming book Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done (Harvard Business Press, December, 2009).