Focus Creates Flow: How to Pick the Critical Few in Manufacturing

Chad Bareither
Oct 13
3 min read

Busy isn’t the same as productive.

Most plants I see don’t suffer from a shortage of ideas; they suffer from a surplus of priorities. When everything is “Priority 1” ... nothing is.

Operators are firefighting.

Managers are double-booked.

Support functions don't have a system to hold the gains.

Don't add more projects. Focus the work. Ninety days later, your plant could "see risk before lunch" and spend afternoons improving instead of chasing yesterday’s misses. Here's the turning point:

Choose the Critical Few with Strategy Deployment

Strategy deployment (OGSM/Hoshin Kanri) turns high-level vision into a short list of objectives and measurable goals. Focus creates flow. And focus starts by picking the critical few—the 1–3 goals that truly move your business. It makes tradeoffs explicit: what you will do and what you won’t do (yet).

How to do it this quarter

Start with the vision. Where are you trying to take the business. What would excellence look like in a year, three years, five years?
Make a measurable goal. From that objective statement, set a goals you ca monitor progress against. “Reduce lead time from 45 to 25 days by December 31.”
Build a KPI Tree. Define the requirements to meet that goal and the processes that deliver those capabilities. "Planning, Order Intake, Fulfillment." Then the metrics and controls to keep processes in line ... to achieve the deliverables. "Forecast Accuracy, Order Errors, Pick Time" Leader tip: Ask every manager to circle where their team contributes. If they can’t, you have a focus or clarity problem—not a motivation problem.
Discuss and Vote on Where to Invest. Write down the good ideas you’re deferring. Visibility reduces orphaned side projects.

Tip #1 Protect Improvement Time with Leader Standard Work

No system survives the calendar unless leaders protect time for it.

Daily (10–15 min): Review; confirm yesterday’s performance, actions needed, and today’s risks.
Weekly (30–45 min): KPI trend review; did we get what we expect? If not, what needs to change?
Monthly (60–90 min): PDCA review of goals; decide what to stop, start, or sustain next cycle.

Block these before meetings populate. If your standards live only in your head, your calendar will always win. Sounds like a lot, but I am only asking for 90 days.

Tip #2 Start Small, Learn Fast (Short-Cycle Strategy)

You don’t need a perfect plan to start; you need a 90-day learning loop:

Plan: Lock the critical few, owners, and measures.
Do: Run the cadence; make work visible; swarm red signals.
Check: Review outcomes and process capability, not just results.
Adjust: Change the plan when reality teaches you something.

Short cycles sustain energy, expose reality faster, and keep teams aligned without the annual-plan theater. Better to get all your initiatives done than no complete anything in 90 days.

Common Pitfalls

Too many goals: If you have more than three, you don’t have priorities; you have a wish list. Trim to what truly moves the needle.
Unowned metrics: “Shared accountability” often means no accountability. Assign a clear owner for the 90-day plan, team is there to support them (remember, you're aligned)
Data without decisions: If a metric is red and you have no countermeasure, you’ve built a museum, not a management system. It's easier to prioritize action when you prioritize metrics.
Not meeting: When the calendar gets busy, leaders cancel the very meetings that create stability. Protect this time.

Ready to Move From Busy to Better?

If you implement one thing this month, do this: Choose three goals, build the KPI tree, and put a daily/weekly cadence on the calendar. You’ll feel the difference within two weeks: fewer surprises, clearer decisions, and more time to improve.

Want templates to jump-start? Use the OGSM Worksheet, KPI Tree Template and Leader Reflection Sheet here:

1) OGSM Worksheet

List the mission vision and values of your organization
Develop an objective statement for where you are taking the company.
Define the measurable goals that will inform the team of progress and achievement of the Objective.
Pause - don't define your initiatives until after KPI Tree.

2) KPI Tree Template

For the goal, define the requirements - "what needs to be true" to win.
Identify the processes the team can influence weekly that create those requirements.
For each process, name 1–2 control/activity metrics you can confirm daily.
Define target bands (green/yellow/red), data source, and review cadence.
Where you are off target, or process does not exist -prioritize these for your 90-day strategy
Populate the 'Strategies' (initiatives/projects) from these gaps and identify owners.

3) Leader Reflection

You and your direct team need to more this forward, your time indicates your priority
Where did you actually spend your time? Adjust as needed to hit 90-day plan.

Focus creates flow. Pick the critical few, and the work—and your people—will have room to succeed.

That’s how you #improveLESS … and get better results.