The Portfolio Fallacy
- Darren Emery
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Why Scaling Work is Easier Than Scaling Focus
Picture this: You’re in yet another strategy meeting where someone - usually the loudest voice in the room - insists, “We just need better prioritisation!” The room nods in collective agreement, as if the mere word will conjure focus. You almost expect a slow clap.
Problem solved, right?
Except it’s not. Because prioritisation isn’t your problem - it’s focus. Or, more precisely, the lack of it.
In medium to large organisations, the portfolio is the beating heart of delivery strategy. It’s where grand plans, wish lists, and career-making initiatives converge. But often, it’s also where good intentions go to die.
Why? Because most portfolio frameworks don’t scale focus - they scale workload. And that, my friends, is the problem.
The Portfolio Fallacy: Scaling Work ≠ Scaling Focus
The idea that portfolios inherently deliver alignment and focus is a dangerous myth. More often than not, they scale workload instead, leading to sprawling initiatives that get just enough attention to stay alive - but never enough to truly thrive.
A well-meaning leader thinks: “If we have visibility, we’ll have control.” So, they pile projects into a portfolio, slap some RAG statuses on them, and call it a strategy. Spoiler: it’s not. Portfolios are not inherently about prioritisation. They’re just as likely to be a wish-list on steroids.
The Illusion of Scale
Imagine a technology transformation where dozens of projects kick off simultaneously. Six months in, the metrics look promising: lots of activity, plenty of RAG statuses.
But dig deeper, and you find a stalled pipeline: work started but not finished, outcomes promised but not delivered. It’s not just inefficient - it’s destructive.
Here’s a real-world example:
A global retailer once launched 25 strategic initiatives to modernise their supply chain. Six months later, leadership discovered that less than 10% were moving at pace, while others were stalled, competing for resources, or stuck in analysis paralysis. The root cause? An overloaded portfolio that scaled work, not focus.
The more projects you juggle, the more impact you think you’re having. It feels efficient because you’re covering more ground. But the reality? You’re spreading your focus thinner and thinner. Work gets started, stopped, restarted. Deadlines slip. Outcomes suffer. And the backlog? I’ve talked about that crime scene in a previous article: bloated, half-baked ideas and unkept promises.
Scaling work is much easier than scaling focus. Starting a new project or initiative is straightforward. Keeping it moving, completing it, and realising value? That’s the hard part. And as the number of initiatives scales up, the percentage of completed work often plummets.
Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand: Scaling the Right Way
Most leaders unknowingly fill their metaphorical jars with sand first - minor tasks, emails, and status updates - while the strategic rocks sit untouched on the side. Scaling focus means being intentional about what fills your jar first.
To scale focus, you need to think differently. Start with the big rocks: your core, high-impact initiatives. Once they’re in place, add the medium-priority tasks (pebbles) and finally, the minor ones (sand). The problem? Most leaders do the reverse - sand first, rocks last. And they wonder why nothing significant ever gets done.
To scale focus, you need to:
Define a small set of high-impact initiatives.
Make these initiatives non-negotiable in terms of attention and resources.
Only add smaller tasks once these rocks are securely in place.
The Focus Problem at Scale
What’s worse: A team juggling five incomplete projects or a team delivering one initiative that truly moves the needle? In many organisations, the former is seen as “productive,” but it’s a trap.
Unfinished work isn’t just waste - it’s evidence of poor leadership focus.
Time is zero-sum. Every minute spent on one task is a minute not spent on another. So, if you’re not ruthless about focus, your default state becomes chasing every urgent itch rather than completing what matters most.
Flow Debt: The Hidden Cost of Spreading Thin
Flow debt is like leaving all the taps running while you frantically try to mop the floor. The more work you start without finishing, the more chaos you create. It’s not just unproductive - it’s reckless.
To counter flow debt:
Stop launching new initiatives without finishing existing ones.
Be brutally honest about capacity and throughput.
Design your portfolio not just around work, but around flow.
Four Portfolio Traps and How to Escape Them
The Visibility Trap:
Believing that putting everything on a dashboard equals better management.
Escape: Set Work in Progress (WIP) limits. Fewer initiatives mean clearer outcomes.
The Ownership Trap:
Too many cooks. Projects crossing too many boundaries lack clear ownership.
Escape: Accountability drives progress. One person owning an initiative cuts through confusion and drives action.
The Capacity Trap:
Assuming people can just do more. You can’t stretch work without breaking people.
Escape: Use realistic capacity planning. Match work with actual focus, not wishful thinking.
The Spreadsheet Hell Trap:
Portfolios becoming endless matrices where tracking takes precedence over action.
Escape: Simplify your tracking. Focus on metrics that measure flow, not just progress.
What to Watch For (Executive Cheat Sheet)
Projects perpetually in “yellow” or “amber” status
Initiatives consistently delayed with no clear resolution path
High WIP count but low completion rate
Repeated prioritisation discussions with little to show for it
Confusion around ownership or accountability
Fixing the Focus Problem at Scale
If your portfolio looks impressive on paper but the outcomes don’t match, it’s not strategy - it’s theatre.
Focus beats volume, every time. The more you load your portfolio, the less likely you are to complete anything that truly matters.
Choose your initiatives wisely, and remember: starting less often means finishing more.
Try This:
Stop Starting, Start Finishing: Identify three key initiatives that are 80% done and complete them. Announce to the team: “We’re closing these before opening anything new.”
Declare a Focus Day: Set the tone by clearing your calendar for a day and working only on completing existing tasks. Lead by example.
Set a WIP Limit: State publicly that no more than 3 strategic initiatives can be active at once. Make it non-negotiable.
Rescuing Your Portfolio from Spreadsheet Hell
Sometimes, the smartest move is simply to say no. If your portfolio has become a labyrinth of colour-coded chaos, it’s time to cut it back to the essentials. Simplify your tools - ditch the flashy spreadsheets with a thousand unnecessary functions (looking at you, Monday.com) - and ensure your metrics actually show progress toward valuable outcomes, not just endless activity tracking.
Closing Thoughts:
Portfolios should drive focus, not dilute it. Be the leader who sets the standard for finishing valuable work, not just starting more of it.
If you had to justify your portfolio today, how many of your current initiatives could you honestly say are delivering real value?
