Management teams are always asking for more money so they can get more done. And they think of money as the constraint on their ability to get things done. As a result, most resource allocation discussions become very money-centric. We create lists of potential projects and rank them based on their financials.
However, money is rarely the scarce resource when it comes to execution. Talent, knowledge, equipment, and systems are essential for getting things done, and the critical resources that constrain your ability to execute are very hard to procure on a timely basis.
When you make resource allocation decisions based on a resource that is not the core constraint, you overestimate the organization’s ability to get things done and saturate the organization with work it cannot complete in a timely manner. And in the process, you generate unproductive complexity that further limits the organization’s ability to execute.
Validate that people understand your strategic priorities