In these unprecedented times decisions must roll out quickly.
To do this our attention and energy must be focused and protected.
It will not be wise for us to expend precious energy responding to anything without a prioritized purpose in mind.
To provide needed focus and clarity we need to have a question continuously on our minds.
“Is it necessary to focus on this right now?”
Ideas, opinions, conjecture, complaints and emotions are going to be flying around like leaves in a windstorm.
We have to manage this and keep things on track referring to the above necessary question we always keep in our minds.
Here’s some ideas of phrases that might be useful when someone tugs the conversation away from immediate priorities:
“That is a good idea, let’s circle back to that one at the end of the week.”
“I know it can be upsetting when that person acts that way, yet right now they are handling a lot and being effective and focused which is critical as we build new systems.”
“Right now, I want to bring our focus back to these priorities.”
“I can talk to you about this right now if you think it is a priority otherwise, I would like to keep my focus on what I am currently doing.”
We’re building this airplane in the air right now.
Focusing our time and attention is everything to keep it flying.