There is a temptation when taking over an organization for leaders to attack the biggest, most formiddable problems immediately facing them.

One of the problems with this approach, however practical it may seem, is that an inordinate amount of time and resources can be poured into such initiatives preventing a leader from having time to get the lay of the land and strategize an appropriate response.

Enormous problems should not be reactively, instinctively responded to. They need to be well understood before efforts are made to tackle them. More often then not when a leader becomes focused on the one or two huge issues before them  a hundred small, easy to deal with annoyances are ignored and allowed to fester and corrode.

After a great deal of time the large problem may be dealt with but the leader becomes overwhelmed when she/he turns around only to see countless other enormous issues that started out small but grew in silence, unobserved and ignored.

NEVER ignore the little things, if you do, you do so at your’s and your organization’s peril.

Clear away the tangled brush of these small, easy to manage issues while they are still easy to manage BEFORE you take a chainsaw to the huge rotting tree they surround.

Or, if you want another analogy, gather the low-hanging fruit before you grab the 10 meter ladder and try for the fruit at the top of the tree. Trust me – you and your organization will be better for it.