The pattern

Every strategy review we run starts the same way: we count the initiatives. The number is almost always larger than the leadership team expects, and the list is almost always longer than the organisation can deliver.

In this illustrative sample, the businesses that halved their list of funded priorities over two years grew their revenue index from 100 to 134, while the ones that kept adding stalled. The figures on this page are demo data, but the shape is one we see again and again.

Why focus compounds

Fewer priorities mean more senior attention per decision, shorter queues for scarce specialists and clearer trade-offs for middle managers. None of these show up on a slide, and all of them show up in the results a year later.

Three questions for your next planning cycle

• If you could fund only three initiatives, which three would they be?

• Which current initiative would you not start today, knowing what you know?

• Who in the business can say no, and how often do they?

What to do on Monday

Print the full list. Ask each owner for the one number their initiative will move and by when. Anything without a number goes on a stop list for the next board meeting.