As a Visionary™ in a business, and really for anyone leading a business, it is easy to become distracted by shiny things.
New ideas. New opportunities. New partnerships. New revenue streams. New markets.
They sparkle. They excite us. They feel strategic.
Some are the future. Others are expensive distractions. The work is learning to tell the difference before enthusiasm becomes a commitment.
What is a shiny thing?
A shiny thing is usually an untested opportunity that pulls meaningful time, money, or attention away from the business's current Core Focus™ and priorities.
That word usually matters. Vision should evolve. Markets change. Capabilities develop. A new opportunity may reveal the next version of the business. The problem is not curiosity. The problem is allowing an idea to become active work before the leadership team has made the tradeoffs visible.
A personal example
I have experience in business ownership, finance, and M&A. At one point, I took on a strategically legitimate operating project because it fit my skills and I was well positioned to help.
The work mattered. It was interesting. It was also outside the Core Focus of my EOS® practice.
Over time, I noticed resentment building. Not because the project was bad, but because it consumed attention that was no longer going toward the work I most wanted to master.
That experience gave me a useful reminder:
Just because you are good at something does not mean you are supposed to be doing it now.
Four tests before you commit
1. Compare it with your current vision
Return to your V/TO® or other vision document.
- Does this opportunity fit our Core Focus?
- Does it advance a current priority?
- What existing commitment will receive less attention if we say yes?
- Is this a change in strategy or simply an interesting possibility?
2. Make the tradeoffs explicit
Every yes consumes something: leadership attention, cash, calendar space, or organizational energy.
Ask what must stop, pause, or move before the new work begins. If the team cannot name the tradeoff, it probably has not made a decision yet.
3. Use the Visionary and Integrator relationship
A healthy Integrator™ often provides a needed counterweight to a Visionary's ideas. That does not mean discernment belongs to one seat. Either leader can protect the Core Focus, and both should pressure-test the opportunity.
The Same Page Meeting™ is a useful place to explore the idea, surface concerns, and decide whether it deserves action.
4. Create a discovery lane
Not every idea needs an immediate yes or no. Give exploration boundaries.
- Set a small discovery budget.
- Name one owner.
- Define the question the exploration must answer.
- Set an expiration date.
- Keep it outside the active priority list until the leadership team deliberately commits.
This protects curiosity without allowing every idea to reorganize the company.
What should you do with ideas that are not ready?
Park them on a long-term list and revisit them during quarterly planning. As your Core Focus evolves or your team develops new capacity, an idea that is distracting today may become aligned later.
Sometimes the answer is park it. Sometimes it is no. Occasionally, it is this is the future.
That decision deserves thoughtful dialogue, not entrepreneurial impulse.
A quick reflection
- What opportunity is attracting your attention right now?
- How does it support the current Core Focus?
- What would have to stop if you pursued it?
- Is the next step a commitment, a bounded discovery effort, or a place on the long-term list?
Businesses that protect their focus make more room to execute what matters. Shiny things will always be there. Clarity helps you decide which ones deserve a future.