First Things First
Part II: A Trip to Priority Peak
By Laverne Forest and Sheila Mulcahy
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Title
Narrator: A few days after Harry Swenson had taken his strange trip in Sir Will
Intention's time machine, he sat in his office puzzling over his priorities for the coming
year. The trip had convinced Harry he had to set priorities if he wanted to see his
results from his programs. But he didn't have a good way to do it yet . . .
Harry: I know some things are more important than others. Some things have to be
done first. But how? Sir Will said I could find out from the sources of influence on
job . . . but they influence me too much. Their pressures are my problem, not the
answer to my problem!
Sir Will: Unnn uh-you forgot the fourth important source of influence on your job,
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Harry: yourself. You've got to consider your own concerns, as well as those from the
other three sources.
Harry: Will! Boy, am I glad to see you! This priority setting is a pretty big
responsibility!
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Sir Will: Well, somebody's got to decide what's high priority when
enough resources to go around. And what better person to do it than the one who's
going to carry out the high program priorities?
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Harry: Well, I've been thinking and thinking about what my priorities ought to be, but
all of them seem important and I haven't got time for all of them.
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Sir Will: I've been thinking about my priorities, too, Harry. And I've decided to make
you my Number One priority. You're my best opportunity to tackle lots of important
problems now-and avoid some bigger ones later.
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Sir Will: Let's take another trip backwards and look at your possible priorities step by
step. There is a way to find out what's most important now and make sure it gets
done. So let's go . . .
Harry: Where to now?
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Sir Will: Priority Peak. We'll travel to the foothills and then get out and climb up the
six steps of priority-setting. It's a hard climb, but it's the best way to get to results on
the other side.
Sir Will: There's another way-a round-about route through the Forest of Purposeless
Activities at the base-but it's too easy to get lost there and never get to Results at all.
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Harry: Sounds like the route I'm on now. But I've never taken this trip before. Won't
we need a map?
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Sir Will: I just happen to have a partial map right here-it's got the six steps on it, but
we'll have to find further directions on the way. We don't always have clear directions
to our priorities right from the start, you know. Now keep a lookout for the landing
zone. That's where we start.
Harry: Is that it over there? It says Step One-"Situation Crossroads."
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Sir Will: It certainly is. Let's set 'er down. Eeeasy does it now.
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Harry: "Understanding the priority-setting situation." Say, didn't we do some of that
on our first trip the other night? I remember-you laid out the four sources of influence
on my job, my ongoing commitments, and the interrelationship of goals and actions . .
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Sir Will: Right . . . your present commitments will limit the time you have for new high
priority programs. Time is one of your resources-and all your resources are limited.
That's why we're starting here, Harry. Time to take stock of your resources and your
commitments.
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Sir Will: This is where you find out how much time you really have
Then you decide where you want to go and how you're going to get there. What do
you need to decide-goals or actions?
Harry: Well, I've got too many activities already. The trouble is how do I decide which
ones are more important than others?
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Sir Will: Well, defining some priority goals will give direction to your actions and help
you decide which ones are most important to support your goals.
Harry: Sounds good. Let's start climbing. Which way?
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Sir Will: Step Two ahead-see it? That's Possibility Point. From there we can get a
perspective on what's coming from your sources of influence in the Valley of Possible
Priorities.
Harry: There's a telescope! Good! We can really get a view of the possibilities from
here.
Sir Will: And just in time too. (huff puff) Here they come!
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Harry: Look! Here come the alternatives from the Society and Community! Let me
see that telescope.
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Voices of Alternatives: Air pollution! Crime! Transportation! Energy! Inflation!
Food! Housing!
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Voices of Alternatives: Welfare Reform! Taxes! Unemployment! Waste! Health
Programs!
Harry: Wow, those are a lot of important concerns. But they're kind of broad and
general, aren't they?
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Sir Will: Certainly, but it'll help you choose priorities if you can relate a specific
program to some of these broad concerns of society.
Harry: But I don't have a telescope back at my office, Will. How do I find out the
important problems of society and the community?
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Sir Will: You're right-they won't just come marching out at you. But there are lots of
ways to look for them . . . study the mass media; read books and newspapers; look at
surveys, opinion polls, proposed laws.
Sir Will: Listen to your neighbors if you want to find local concerns.
officials-board members, or other community leaders. You can even make your own
survey.
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Harry: Or maybe there's already existing information I can use.
Sir Will: Good thinking, Harry.
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Sir Will: Whoops-here come the alternatives from your specific client groups:
farmers, agribusiness, co-ops, suppliers, home gardeners.
Harry: I know how to get their ideas 'cause I work with farmers every day.
Sir Will: There are lots of good ways to involve people to help you choose priorities,
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Harry. Personal contact is a good one-but to reach everybody you might want to use
an advisory group or a special task force. Call a group meeting; approach voluntary
organizations.
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Voices of Alternatives: High production costs! Fuel shortages! Farm management!
Dutch Elm Disease! Home gardening! Pesticides for food production!
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Voices of Alternatives: Irrigation! High farm taxes! Urban use of Ag Lands!
Livestock Production! Crop Disease! Financing! -Zoning!
Harry: These are good alternatives too, Will. How'm I gonna know which ones are
high priority?
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Sir Will: That's why we're on this trip-to find out. Some of these alternatives are
specific problems within larger goals that'll help you judge them.
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Sir Will: Besides, notice that you're getting some of the same signals from different
sources already-and we've only seen the possibilities from two of them. When they
start overlapping you'll find some priorities.
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Harry: Ahhh-that will help. Now I see the possibilities coming from the Extension
organization. But how do I find them back on the job?
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Sir Will: There are lots of ways to find out Extension's priorities district meetings,
memos, talks with program leaders and specialists, statements from the chancellor or
director, implications of statewide programs and policies-and, of course, the Extension
mission.
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Sir Will: Let's see what problems and goals your program area thinks are
important…
Voices of Alternatives: Livestock production! Low income farmers!
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Voices of Alternatives: Pesticide safety! Stream bank erosion! Land use planning!
Improved marketing procedures! Fuel for food production! Calf feeder show . . . .
Sir Will: Uh oh, there's one that shouldn't be here yet. (Will guides Calf Feeder Show
off the path) C'mon I'il fella. You're on the wrong step here. We're looking at priority
goals right now and if you activities start popping in any of time you feel like it, it'll start
looking like the Forest of Purposeless Activities around here. Run along now . .
Harry: We might see you later.
Sir Will: Well, Harry . . . there are your priority alternatives from the other sources of
influence. Now, what do you think is important?
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Harry: Well, I agree with lots of these concerns. We'll need fuel and pesticides to
produce food. But, I'm also worried about the environment and food quality. And, if
cities keep encroaching on ag lands, we may just lose a lot of farms-and farmers!
Sir Will: So, your own priorities and values will help you choose your high program
priorities. And that's good, Harry, because you'll be more committed to a priority you
think is important.
Harry: But how can I make sure it's the best choice?
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Sir Will: It helps to consider many possibilities-but you're jumping ahead a step,
Harry. You don't get to choose yet. First, you need some criteria to judge these
alternatives. That's Step Three-the most important step of all.
Sir Will: C'mon, let's go dig up some criteria.
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Harry: Where do we find criteria, anyway?
Sir Will: The same place you found the alternatives-from your sources of influence.
The map says Step Three's right about here at Criteria Gap.
Sir Will: Ahhh-there's the sign ahead. (Sign: "Criteria: Dig Here")
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Harry: You mean we really have to dig them up?
Sir Will: That's right. Sometimes criteria aren't always clear to everyone.
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Sir Will: They might lie beneath the surface, like our values. They're
to judge whether alternatives are high priority or not-just like our goals tell us whether
an activity is high priority or not. What've you got there now?
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Harry: It's a set of criteria for the community. Listen to this : 'What's this alternative's
impact on the local community?' 'Does it support the environment?' 'Does it conflict
with other goals?' There are a lot of questions like this. And then down here it says:
'Look under the boulder for criteria from specific client groups!'
Sir Will: Right-you've got to look for criteria in more than one place. They come from
all four sources of influence. Extension's criteria are lurking behind that big rock over
there.
Harry: Do I offer criteria too?
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Sir Will: You certainly do. You've got to dig deep for your own values and concerns.
Do certain alternatives meet goals you think are important?
Harry: Golly, this is hard work digging up criteria.
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Sir Will: I know, but we've got to have 'em to decide what's most important. The
map ends here. Those criteria are all we've got to go on. Have you got 'em all now?
Harry: Yup, I think so.
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Sir Will: Did you look under that little bunch of rocks? C'mon Harry-leave no stone
unturned. Remember-finding criteria and deciding which ones carry the most weight
is the most important step on this trip.
Harry: Hold it, Will! You didn't say anything about weighing them!
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Sir Will: We really couldn't weigh them until we got them all out. But deciding which
criteria are most important will practically decide your priorities for you.
Harry: How do you weigh them?
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Sir Will: It's largely a matter of judgment-who says so, for instance. Is one group's
criteria more important than another's? Should you have a balance of social,
economic, individual, environmental, and educational criteria? The alternative you
finally choose has to pass the criteria of each source of influence-hurdle the
obstacles, so to speak.
Sir Will: But that's Step Four: The Gate of Relative Importance.
Harry: Where's the Gate?
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Sir Will: It's up there, and you've got the key.
Harry: I have?
Harry: (looks in pocket) Well, I'll be. I have. So I'm the final barrier, huh?
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Sir Will: Yessir-you're the one we're counting on to decide high priorities. The criteria
you've selected from all your sources of influence are the barriers. Several
alternatives are going to get through all the other obstacles but you and your
criteria stand at the end. If you don't pick them as your high program priorities, they
don't get through.
Sir Will: Whoops-here come those alternatives now-all of them!
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Harry: There's one snagged on the community's criteria-which one?
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Sir Will: Looks like Mass Transit. Guess your community's too rural to merit that one.
It got snagged on a number of people affected.
Harry: Well, it would have gone down in my ag program area anyway.
Sir Will: There goes another one-Erosion. And Air Pollution's stuck on the sand bar.
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Harry: Sink or swim, huh, Will?
Sir Will: Not always-some may sink, but others may just get held up for awhile until
they're stronger. There are some pretty strong swimmers out there, Harry.
Sir Will: Look-Energy's going to make it!
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Harry: Well, it's so related to other problems and very critical now.
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Sir Will: I see Unemployment crawling up the other bank . . . now it's helping out
Taxes and Inflation.
Harry: Uh, oh-there goes Dutch Elm Disease. Guess it's too late for that one.
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Sir Will: But Pesticides is carrying Food Production on its back . . . and Land Use
Planning is making it on its own.
Harry: Aren't an awful lot of these getting through, Will?
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Sir Will: Oh, you've got to expect that. We're at the community and society's
criteria now, remember. They're the broadest. The field will narrow down quite a bit
by the time those alternatives get through the other sources' criteria.
Harry: Well, it looks like all are ashore who're going ashore here, Will.
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Sir Will: Now the specific client groups' criteria-that high rocky cliff. The going gets
tougher.
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Narrator: Sir Will and Harry stood at Criteria Gap watching as all the remaining
alternatives tried to climb up the clientele groups' cliff. Criteria such as "Solving This
Client Groups' Problems,"
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Narrator: "Agreement With Client Values," and "Client Readiness" made many
alternatives slip and fall back to the river bank below. Many more got through,
however . . . the ones that were most important to the individual client groups.
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Narrator: The Extension tunnel was the third set of criteria. Many alternatives
struggled and squeezed but couldn't fit into the Extension educational mission or
Harry's agribusiness program area . . .
Harry: Housing's important, but it can't fit through the tunnel. Not an agribusiness
concern, eh?
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Sir Will: No . . . and someone else will have to take care of Health Programs too.
But see what is getting through. Looks like you'll have a tough choice, Harry.
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Harry: Food Production, Energy Conservation, Farm Pesticide Safety, Preservation
of Ag Lands, Farm Management, and Farm Property Taxes-they're all important! But I
can only tackle one or two major programs at a time, Will!
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Sir Will: Well, they haven't gotten through your gate yet, Harry. Now's the time to
apply some of your own criteria. For instance . . . do these alternatives fall into your
job description?
Harry: Sure they do . . . of course, we've got an area community development
agent now. I guess he could handle some of these land use and tax problems better
than I can.
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Sir Will: There, you've named another criterion . . . having the know-how-expertise,
as you fellows call it.
Harry: Well, he's got the expertise, but /'m closer to my own county's problems.
Sir Will: Maybe you should share your expertise in a joint program then.
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Harry: Mmmm. But I'm really interested in this pesticide problem. I mean it relates to
al I my concerns-for a safe and adequate food supply, protecting the environment,
and improving farm economy.
Sir Will: Three more good criteria. But for that matter, energy relates to those
concerns, too, Harry. And so does land use. And taxes. They're all interrelated with
food, the environment, and the economy. But which possible priority is most important
now?
Sir Will: And which ones can someone else pick up? Can you pick two that are
interrelated?
Harry: Can I really do that? Work on two high priorities at once, I mean?
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Sir Will: Certainly, but you'll have to plan your activities very carefully to make sure
you do a good job on both. If you have two high priorities, they should be interrelated
as much as possible.
Harry: How about pesticide safety and farm energy conservation? They're both
aimed at the same problems.
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Sir Will: Well, let's take 'em up through the next two steps and see if they'll make
good sense.
Harry: C'mon guys, let's go up together!
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(Harry takes Pesticides and Energy by hand and leads them thru' gate. Food slips in
with them.)
Sir Will: Food can go along . . . it's part of the same goal.
Harry: Aw, don't look so gloomy. The community development agent will be along
later and pick you up . . . I'll see to it.
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Sir Will: And maybe the specialists up at the University can get together an
independent study kit on farm management and records . . . or the credit union and
co-ops.
Harry: I'll sure suggest it. I'm rotten at math myself. Well . . . is it up to Priority Peak
now?
Sir Will: After just one more stop-at Step Five: Reflection Overview.
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Sir Will: This is where you reflect on your choice, Harry. Now consider-is a farm
pesticide safety and energy conservation program really your best choice? Will it
really accomplish your goals?
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Harry: I can think of some other questions, too. Do I really have the know-how?
Who's gonna help me? Can I get the resources to do it? How much time will it take?
What do I have to do first?
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Sir Will: AND is it most important NOW? Here's where you look ahead to see the
future consequences of your actions, Harry. What will happen if you don't do
something about energy conservation this year?
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Harry: Well, there just might not be any production fuel next year, that's what. I think
energy IS an urgent problem . . . NOW. In fact, maybe if we'd done something about
it in the past we could have prevented this crisis.
Sir Will: So right, Harry. Can you say the same thing about pesticides?
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Harry: The time is ripe to prevent an environmental crisis in the future . . . maybe we
can try some biological pest controls now-or at least safer ways to insure good crop
production.
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Sir Will: And what about farm management? You know, picking one goal as high
priority means others are going to be lower priority.
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Harry: Well, I hope we can get something going with the credit unions and co-ops.
But I really can't see many dire results with wide impact in the future if I put it off for
now. On the other hand, if the community development agent doesn't concentrate on
land use now we may not have much farm land left to grow food on for the future.
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Sir Will: Good, Harry. That's really reflecting on your choice. This is also the
step to set your timetable. Think ahead to your long-range goals . . . what you want
accomplished by such and such a time . . . and work backwards to figure out what
you do now to meet your goals.
Harry: Yup-there's a lot to be done. Now the only problem is finding time to do it!
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Sir Will: You won't find the time, Harry-you've got to make the time. C'mon-let's go on
to Step Six. You need some commitment to these priorities.
Harry: You mean there's another step before we get to Priority Peak?
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Sir Will: No-this is the step that puts you on Priority Peak. It's Commitment to Action.
You see you haven't finished your priority-setting until you're really, personally
committed to your goals and have set activities to carry them out.
Harry: So what do I do to prove I'm committed?
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Sir Will: First, make your decision known to others-all your sources of influence have
to know your priorities.
Sir Will: Here: broadcast them.
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Harry: PESTICIDE SAFETY! ENERGY CONSERVATION!
Voices of Sources Below: Yay, yay, hip hip hooorah! Boo!
Harry: Uh oh-looks like I better explain my priorities more clearly to one of those
client groups down there.
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Sir Will: You'll need all the cooperation you can get. And second,
out a sequence of activities to meet your goals.
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Sir Will: You can set as many priorities as you want, but they'll sit in your file for
years if you don't plan now to act on them. Tell everybody exactly what you're going to
do. Set dates and deadlines.
Sir Will: Get resources and specialist help. Force yourself to follow through on your
commitments-and force others to respect them.
Harry: So commitment is public as well as private, eh, Will?
Sir Will: It has to be. Here you are on Priority Peak with set goals but only defined
purposeful actions will carry you to those results way out yonder.
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Harry: And if I try to reach results without those meaningful actions, I'll get lost in the
Forest of Purposeless Activity again?
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Sir Will: You've got it, Harry. Here, plant this flag of commitment on Priority Peak.
You've earned it.
Harry: You know, Will, you're not such a bad of guy after all.
Harry: Just taking this trip has made me realize lots of things I'd never thought about before-like
to me. Thanks for waking me up.
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Sir Will: Heavens, don't mention it. You're just helping me meet my top priority,
Harry.
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Sir Will: C'mon-let's fetch some of those priority actions to meet our priority goals. It's
all downhill from here.
(They pick some actions and ride out toward the Field of Results.)
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Narrator: Of course, it wasn't a// downhill from there . . . but after Harry had learned
to set priorities and follow through on them, his job got lots better.
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Narrator: And each trip he had to make to Priority Peak got easier and easier,
whether it was to decide priority goals or activities to meet them. Best of all, his
programs got results that were seen as important by all his sources of influence,
including himself.
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Narrator: Priority Peak's a nice place to visit this time of year . . . why not reserve
time now to set priorities yourself?
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THE END