I’ve worked in many organizations where people were incredibly busy. They were smart, committed, hardworking people who genuinely wanted to do a good job.

And yet, sometimes, all that activity wasn’t translating into progress. Not because people weren’t working hard enough. But because we kept adding…Another priority. Another initiative. Another meeting. Another request that would “only take a day.”

The problem is that the cost of adding something isn’t just the time it takes. It’s the attention it takes away from something else.

Years ago, when I worked in aerospace, I saw this play out in a particularly striking way.

The organization was under significant financial pressure. Leadership was asking everyone to cut back, focus ruthlessly on what mattered and do fewer things better.

One of the decisions made to support those objectives was not to participate in an upcoming industry airshow.

Then, not long afterwards, there was discussion about sending a plane and organizing a press conference at that very event.

Could it be done? Probably. Could it be outsourced? Maybe. Would it take that much time? Perhaps not. But that wasn’t the point. We had just told people to focus. And then we gave them something else to focus on.

That’s how priorities get diluted.

Not necessarily through one enormous distraction, but through dozens of small additions that seem perfectly reasonable on their own. And when nothing comes off the list, people eventually stop believing the list means anything.

Real prioritization isn’t deciding what’s important. It’s deciding what isn’t.

Before adding the next priority, perhaps the better question is: “What are we willing to take off the list to make room for it?”

If the answer is nothing, maybe it’s not a new priority.

Maybe it’s just one more thing…