Organizations face a constant stream of new ideas, opportunities, and potential projects. While innovation and forward thinking are essential for growth, attempting to pursue too many initiatives simultaneously often leads to diminished results across the board. This creates a fundamental tension: how can organizations maintain laser focus on current strategic priorities while ensuring valuable future opportunities aren't lost?

Most organizations have a set of primary initiatives that demand significant resources, executive attention, and cross-functional collaboration. These initiatives typically represent the organization's most important strategic priorities and require sustained focus to execute successfully. However, during the execution of these critical initiatives, new ideas continuously emerge. Some arise from market changes, others from customer feedback, and still others from internal innovation. Each may hold tremendous potential value, yet adding them to an already full plate risks diluting focus and compromising overall execution.

In our previous discussion about managing the "big rocks"—those major, resource-intensive initiatives critical to an organization’s success—we explored the importance of dedicating focus and resources to what truly drives value. However, as any leader knows, while current strategic initiatives are being executed, new ideas, opportunities, and potential projects constantly emerge. How can organizations balance the need to advance these "big rocks" while ensuring that promising new initiatives aren't neglected?

This is where the concept of a "wait/work" board becomes an invaluable tool. By creating a place to "park" future initiatives, organizations can focus on the present without losing sight of what lies ahead.