The 3-Project Rule: How to Choose Strategic Priorities When You're Still Doing Everything

Stop me if this hits too close to home.

You’re visiting family. Everyone wakes up and is ready for what the day holds, so someone starts offering potential activities.

What if we go visit the ice castles? A friend gave me their tickets and it looks like a cool display.

Going to a park might be fun.

Are there any museums nearby?

And then suddenly it’s 11am, the options are still flowing and nobody has left the living room. Some of us (it was just me) are getting hungry and losing their patience with the back and forth. So in response and out of frustration that hungry group makes the decision to go to the ice castles. Everyone else gets on board and it’s not until this point that someone thinks to look at the tickets.

The ice castles are 4 hours away. That’s out. Let’s figure out lunch.

Everyone starts offering potential food options.

Now imagine it's not a family gathering but your firm's leadership team. You've got an exhaustive list of strategic initiatives: hire an associate, systematize onboarding, launch that niche service, build your referral network, update your marketing. The list goes on.

And just like the ice castles, a year passes but not much changes. Two years. Five. Everyone's talking about what you should do, but nobody's actually making decisions. This is where foundationally solid businesses stumble. They've got ambition but lack the focus to progress.

The Problem

Real life happens. Limitations exist. Time limitations, mental limitations. And if we’re being honest, your transformation from Operator to Architect didn’t happen overnight, so you’re still responsible for a ton of what’s going on within your business and you can’t just drop it to focus on a dozen new strategic pursuits. You’ve got to keep the gears turning.

The real question is this: Which of these new initiatives will make the most impact? Which of them will compound over time and most contribute to your larger aspirations? Because you’re still running a business, you can’t devote all your time and energy to executing your grand design. You need to be selective and disciplined. If you have too many priorities, you end up with zero priorities.

This whole process isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing less to accomplish more. It’s about choosing the most important 2-3 moves that compound value and actually move you from operator to architect, from competing in a market to creating a market.

Those are two very separate transformations. Depending on where you are with your firm you’ll fall somewhere on a spectrum.

Step 1: Identify where you’re at on that spectrum … where you’re at in Stage 4.

Are you still heavily operator dependent? If so, you likely need to create leverage and reduce your position as the bottleneck.

Maybe you’re in the middle of the stage. You’ve got some team support, but you’re still the primary client-facing expert. At this point your focus should be more on delegation and systemization.

And perhaps you’re in the late-stage where you’ve got real infrastructure, but it’s fragile. Your priorities need to create redundancy and reduce single points of failure (like that office manager who knows everything).

Step 2: Apply the operator-to-architect filter.

Write this on a post-it or within sight of where you do most of your work.

• Does this project reduce your dependence as the operator? Does it get you out of day-to-day execution?
• Does it create compound value? Does it keep working after the project is done?
• Does it strengthen your business foundation? Does it make everything easier or more valuable?

If you look at each change and it doesn’t pass at least two of these three questions, it’s not strategic or valuable enough. It’s operational and should exist on an operational to-do list, not your strategic priorities.

Step 3: As mentioned before, you are a limited resource. Realistically, you only have the bandwidth to pursue 2-3 projects, max. You’ve got your filters for what will be the most impactful, whether it will help your transition to architect, and now the reality filter. What do you actually have the time and energy for?

Here are some examples that might help get your head in the right space:

Example Priority Set 1: Building Leverage (Early Stage 4)

• Priority 1: Systematize client onboarding (creates repeatable process you can eventually delegate)
• Priority 2: Document your service delivery process (captures your expertise so it's transferable)
• Priority 3: Identify and test one referral partnership (creates inbound without your constant effort)

Example Priority Set 2: Creating Redundancy (Mid-Late Stage 4)

• Priority 1: Hire and train a junior associate or junior attorney (reduces your client delivery load)
• Priority 2: Cross-train your office manager's responsibilities (eliminates single point of failure)
• Priority 3: Launch one specialized service offering (creates differentiation and premium pricing)

Example Priority Set 3: Strengthening Infrastructure (Late Stage 4)

• Priority 1: Build a repeatable quarterly planning process (installs strategic rhythm)
• Priority 2: Create standard operating procedures for your top 3 client processes (enables scaling)
• Priority 3: Develop a client retention/growth strategy (protects and expands your base)

This is where working with someone like me makes the difference … not because it's overly complicated, but because having a thinking partner keeps you honest and accelerates execution. Strategy work should be exciting, not exhausting. Once you’ve isolated out what you’re going to focus on though, the only thing left is the thing itself.

I really like The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. It gives a system to drive strategic initiatives forward.

To make meaningful progress you’ll need to block out time every week to work on these projects, not just be swept away by the hurricane of the day-to-day. There will need to be a clear owner of each priority, and a SMART outcome associated with it. Progress should be discussed across different timeframes. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually or longer if the priority warrants it.

And lastly, when new ideas come up, and they will, record them and stay the course. You don’t have to say No, outright … just Not Right Now.

When you limit yourself and you focus on 2-3 priorities you’ll actually accomplish your goals. Each win moves you closer to architect status and gives confidence in the business’s future. Alternately, projects that never reach completion have a tendency to drain energy and motivation from the entire team.

Clarity around priorities makes everyone’s lives easier from the top to the bottom. Momentum happens naturally as a result of both that clarity and the fulfillment that comes from winning. It’s a positive reinforcement loop that is fueled by your focus and your discipline.

So what does this mean for you?

Look at your current business. What are the 2-3 strategic projects that would reduce your role as operator, create compound value, and strengthen your foundation? Write them down. Put dates on them. And get comfortable saying No, or Not Yet to everything else.

This might not be outward or market facing strategy, but it is strategy nonetheless. Inward facing or personal strategy sets the stage and creates the foundation for the more traditional business strategy, and we’ll get more into that next week.

Need help thinking this through? I work with financial advisors and attorneys who are ready to move from operator to architect. My Focus engagement ($1,500) is a strategic deep-dive where we'll map your priorities, identify what's holding you back, and design a 30-60 day roadmap. Book a call to learn more or just reply to this email.

Until then, be decisive. Skip the ice castles. Go down to May’s for lunch. And have a great week.