WHAT’S NEXT?

by Paul Cormier, President, Cormier Strategy Advisors Inc.

May 2013

I have recently been re-watching and thoroughly enjoying episodes of The West Wing, which ran from 1999 to 2006 and featured the goings-on in the fictional White House of Democratic President Jed Bartlet.  The West Wing is a fascinating look at the inner workings of the White House and a very high quality, entertaining television series.

A common line in the script throughout the series is “What’s next?” uttered primarily by President Bartlet but also by other characters at times.  The line was first heard at the end of the pilot episode when the President yells to his secretary through the open door of the Oval Office “Mrs. Landingham. What’s next?” and last heard in the penultimate scene of the final episode when new President Matt Santos, after concluding a meeting about US military presence in Kazakhstan, asks his chief of staff “What’s next?”

In a flashback episode at the beginning of the second season, President Bartlet first uses the term with his future staff (while they are on his campaign staff) and indignantly explains “When I ask ‘What’s next?’ it means that I’m ready to move on to other things. So, what’s next?”

Let’s think about these two words?  It implies we are concluding a subject (and can leave it behind) and that we are ready to start something new.  How many of us could benefit by organizing our work lives with this seemingly very simple principle in mind? 

Anyone who has sat near me at any point in the last several years and doesn’t have sensory deficit disorder will regularly hear me say to myself “OK, What’s next?” whenever I finish a project or major task.  I stole this from Bartlet but it is my mental way to shift my focus from something that no longer needs attention to something that does.

Few of us could ever understand the pressures of working in the White House but we all face pressures in our daily working lives and many of us are juggling multiple priorities and need to focus 1) on closing issues (and not re-opening them after they are closed) and 2) on what our next priority needs to be.

Again, I turn to The West Wing for wisdom.  In the episode The Lame Duck Congress, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn enlists the help of Assistant White House Counsel Ainsley Hayes to create a position paper on whether the White House should back a bill that would help small businesses with fraud prevention and employee theft.  Sam and Ainsley bring the recommendation to White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry who in less than two minutes accepts the recommendation.  Ainsley, who is new to the White House, cannot believe the meeting is over and the decision made with such little discussion and turns to Sam asking “what just happened?”  Sam explains “Leo said yes, that’s the end of meeting.”  He goes on to say “Well, we play with live ammo around here. You convinced me, I convinced Leo, Leo’ll convince the President…It’s a short day, Ainsley, and a big country. We’ve got to move fast.”

Anyone in work environments dealing with multiple issues can learn from this in the daily management of our work lives.  The workday is short and there are lots of items to deal with.  Close the deal, don’t dwell on or re-visit the decision (re-opening closed issues is perhaps the most frustrating and time-wasting activity we are subjected to) and move to the next priority.

Now that we have agreed on that, what’s next?

Paul Cormier is President of Cormier Strategy Advisors Inc., a firm which provides clients with strategic consulting, project management and short-term management services.