Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.
A full calendar is worthless if it isn’t filled with the right tasks. Whoever leads – themselves or others – has to make tough decisions based on priorities.
The law in detail
Four steps through the law: understand, check, connect, apply. Open any topic to read more.
The core messageWhat the law says – and what it doesn’t
A full calendar is no proof of progress. What matters is whether your time goes into the tasks that truly serve the goal.
- It does not say
- That a lot of work is bad. Effort is valuable – when it is applied in the right place.
- That you can simply drop less important tasks. Some you need to delegate, simplify or deliberately postpone.
- Strictly speaking
- The 80/20 rule is a rule of thumb, not a measurement, and has not been tested for leadership work. What is supported is that good time management is moderately linked to performance and well-being.
- The distinction between activity and accomplishment is logically clear. But it doesn’t tell you which tasks are the important ones – for that you need a clear goal.
- Applies to
- Project plans and weekly calendars in a company, to a church’s annual planning, to board work in a club and to the question of how you spend your evenings as a family.
The explanationA long to-do list shows dedication, but it is no proof that the necessary work gets done.
A long to-do list shows dedication, but it is no proof that the necessary work gets done.
That holds for your own working week as much as for the projects of an entire department.
The Pareto principle offers a rule of thumb: a small share of tasks often produces most of the return. If there are ten items on your list, the two most important ones deserve most of your time and attention.
The signs3 signs the law is at work · 3 that it is missing
- Every morning you can say which few tasks will make the biggest difference today.
- You deliberately say no to requests that don’t fit your goals, even when they sound urgent.
- At the end of a week you measure progress by results, not by hours, meetings or ticked-off items.
- Your day is full, yet the important projects slip from week to week.
- You mostly react to emails, calls and interruptions instead of deciding for yourself what counts.
- Your area of responsibility runs more projects than people and resources can carry – and no one knows what comes first.
The research5 sources · 1973–2021 · with the limits of the research
- low
- moderate
- high
Moderate – Time management, allocation of attention, leaders’ everyday work.
- 1973Henry Mintzberg
Leaders’ everyday work is hectic, fragmented and reactive.
- 1994Therese Hoff Macan
Time management works through the sense of controlling one’s own time.
- 2002Heike Bruch & Sumantra Ghoshal
Only a small share of managers work with both focus and energy.
- 2009Sophie Leroy
After a task switch, attention stays with the old task; performance declines.
Time management is moderately linked to performance and well-being. The 80/20 rule, on which the law often relies, has not been tested for leadership work.
The originJohn C. Maxwell · “The Law of Priorities”
- 1998OriginJohn C. Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Law 17
- The Law of PrioritiesIn essence: A leader has to separate the important from the merely urgent, because a lot of activity is not yet impact.
- todayWEGVISOR: The Law of Priorities
The WEGVISOR version, the “Law of Priorities”, sums this up in the core statement “Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.” Research supports the value of time management to a moderate degree; the frequently cited 80/20 rule, however, has not been tested for leadership work.
The related laws and qualitiesQ08 Focus · L18 Sacrifice
Priorities determine what counts; focus makes sure you stick with it. Without focus, even good priorities get diluted in everyday life.
Setting priorities means giving up many things that would also be appealing. The more responsibility you carry, the more you have to consciously let go.
The action points5 stages of growth – from first awareness to passing it on
- Become aware Look at last week’s calendar and mark which appointments really contributed to your most important goals. Just look for now, change nothing yet.
- Lay the foundations This week, drop or hand over two tasks that don’t contribute to your most important goals, and use the time you gain for your most important task.
- Make it a habit Plan the coming week every Friday: identify the few tasks with the greatest return – as a rule of thumb, about one in five – and block most of your time for them first.
- Deepen deliberately Hold on to your priorities even in a week full of urgent demands, deliberately say no to one request, and have someone you trust show you where you spread yourself too thin.
- Pass it on This month, help the people you work with – a colleague, a project group or your team – to prioritise consistently for themselves: agree shared criteria for what is important rather than urgent and build them into your planning.
The reflection questions5 questions for you or a conversation with others
- Which three tasks are moving my work, my team or my family forward most right now?
- How much of my last week actually went into those tasks?
- What am I saying yes to when I should be saying no?
- Which task do I do myself that someone else could do just as well – and which project should I end altogether?
- How can I tell in the evening whether I was productive or just busy?
Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.
The picture to rememberTen tasks, two that matter: 80 percent of the energy flows to the most important 20 percent.
- Ten tasks, two that matter: 80 percent of the energy flows to the most important 20 percent.
What the Law of Priorities looks like in practice
Number 1 or 2, or out
Jack Welch kept only those General Electric businesses where GE ranked first or second in the market; the rest were sold or closed. From 1981 to 2001, GE’s market value rose from $12 billion to $410 billion.
The important is seldom urgent
“The important are seldom urgent, and the urgent are seldom important,” Dwight D. Eisenhower is said to have remarked, inspiring the later Eisenhower Matrix. Planning D-Day, he focused on strategy and delegated to generals like Patton and Bradley.
Six of eight hours for the axe
“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening the axe,” Abraham Lincoln said. A dull axe makes the work slow and exhausting; preparation decides the outcome.
