When an organization decides to pursue a new idea, it’s forced to make a difficult decision. How should they go about tackling the unique opportunity? The answer is “Kill 2 and Add 1.” That’s because creativity is a double-edged sword. While new ideas get people excited, they also come with a real cost.
The Need for Focus
Every organization needs three areas of focus
- Adding it to the list for your people to tackle
- To properly chase down that new opportunity, the organization must divert people and resources from somewhere else
- The danger here is that the more ideas you have your team chasing, not only will they risk burnout, and you will also lose focus
Sustainable Innovation
The discipline of removing two ideas for each one you add will provide an increasing focus for your team
- Focus means the projects really matter and they will tend to get done faster
- So, the next time someone on your team comes to you with a new idea to chase, smile.
- And then ask the question: “OK, but what two things are we going to kill first before we start this?”
Identifying Priorities
Don’t chase every new idea and opportunity
- Many organizations turn to one common strategy to substitute one initiative for another
- Adding a significant new initiative and then killing off something small and inconsequential
- This leaves your team under-resourced and over-burdened
Doing More with Less
The most focused and effective organizations rely on what we might call the “Kill 2; Add 1” approach
- In other words, if you want the team to chase down a new opportunity, then they also need to stop doing two other initiatives
- You’ll get more projects done faster by chasing fewer projects at any one time
