Last week was about Hermione Granger, self-doubt, and running out of magic.  This week we are going to turn to quidditch for a lesson in prioritization.  In case you’re a muggle, allow me to explain Quidditch.  The game consists of two teams of 7 players who fly on brooms and try to score points.  There are 4 “balls” that are in play during a match.  There is one quaffle (a ball you grab and throw through hoops to earn points), two bludgers (enchanted balls that try to knock people off their brooms), and one golden snitch. 

The golden snitch is a small flittery ball that is enchanted to make is extremely elusive.  Capturing the ball is worth a lot of points and is the only way to stop the match.  Basically, capturing the golden snitch is the most important thing you can do in the game to achieve victory.  In order to catch the golden snitch, each team has a player designated as the Seeker.  The Seeker is a skilled flyer with a fast broom and their job is to avoid the other team and the bludgers in order to capture the golden snitch.  The other players work with the Seeker to help them achieve the goal.  You can click HERE to see this in action.  So you’re probably wondering what this has to do with prioritization.  As the paragraph states above, the golden snitch is the most important thing in the game.  This means that each team prioritizes its personnel, effort, skills, and strategies in a way that boosts their ability to capture the golden snitch.  If the team doesn’t prioritize golden snitch catching activities, then they will lose.

So what does this have to do with work?  In quidditch the golden snitch is clearly identified as the most important thing to achieve.  In the real world it doesn’t work like that.  Instead, it is up to the team to look at a very complex market in order to decide what is the most important thing the team must achieve in order to be successful.  Another connection is that just like quidditch, in the real world you are flying around in a crazy environment where bludgers (external forces) try to knock you off your focus while competitors fly all around you chasing goals.  You are forced to navigate an extremely complicated landscape, and it is up to you to prioritize the people, effort, skills, time, and strategies that will enable you to capture your golden snitch.  If you asked your team right now what the golden snitch is that your team is trying to capture, could they tell you?  If you asked them how their work enabled the team to capture the golden snitch would they know?  If I asked you what your golden snitch was, would you have an answer?  If you don’t know what your golden snitch is you can’t figure out how to catch it, which just leaves you fly around fast in circles.  Sure it might look impressive, but it’s not really getting anything done.  I’m sure we all have had that experience, right?  I know that I’m currently in the stage of messy confusion where I’m spending time trying to figure out what my golden snitch is so I can best catch it, so if you’re there too then you aren’t alone.

The challenge: What is your team’s golden snitch?  How are you prioritizing your efforts to ensure that everything is aligned to catching that golden snitch?  (If only it were as easy as “accio what should be my top priority.”)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry