#9 THE DISCIPLINE OF PRIORITIZATION

For seventeen years, Ford used an incredible tagline.

Quality is Job One.

The Ford executive team had the courage to admit that their cars had quality problems, and fixing them was critical to the company’s survival.

So critical that the Ford executive team made it Job One.

Every organization has a multitude of issues. They have a multitude of opportunities. All of them are important.

But only one of them can be Job One!

High performance executive teams apply the discipline of prioritization to make one thing Job One. 

Providing this kind of specificity requires what Jim Collins calls "piercing clarity." Most executive teams lack the courage or discipline to do it. They have twenty-seven priorities… and wonder why the organization is confused about what is important.

So, what is your organization’s Job One? Profitability? Sales? Customer service? Employee engagement? Cost control? Quality?

In addition, Ford made quality their Job One for seventeen years! Most executive teams can’t stay on one thing for seventeen minutes.

High-performance executive teams know that it takes a long time for organizational performance to improve. Pick One Thing. Make it Job One. Stay with it… for seventeen years – or as long as it takes.

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