We Should Prioritise Understanding What A Priority Is

There is a great opportunity in doing so

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Basics

I feel we get priorities wrong all the time. I don’t mean that we don’t know how to prioritise (although that is a common ailment, too), but that we aren’t clear about what a priority is or what prioritising involves. In the age of noise, clarity is scarce and therefore priceless. Radicalisation and dogma are the most simplistic responses to the noise: black or white, with me or against me. Granted, this basic logic will help us with our priorities, but the prioritisation will be… well, basic.

Priorities ≠ Only Criteria

Setting priorities is hard for a reason. Abiding by them is even harder. Technically, a priority is something that comes before something else. It does not negate what comes after, however. I see this more and more when people talk about their priorities: “we don’t do that; it’s not our priority”, I’ll hear. Well, if we don’t do something, it’s obvious it cannot be our priority, isn’t it? It didn’t even make it to the list of things we do! Similarly, in our desperate need for shelter from the noise, we can narrow our focus so much that we cannot hear even that which we are actively listening to. Indeed, a priority should not exclude other aspects of what we do. When we prioritise…