How To Determine Your Company's "Right Next Thing" (RNT)

Ever feel like everything’s on fire and you’re not sure which fire to fight first?

Welcome to life as a CEO.

But here’s the thing: Great CEOs don’t just react to chaos…they know how to identify the biggest bottleneck in the business and act decisively to unblock it.

In other words, they know how to identify and act upon the company’s “Right Next Thing” (or RNT).

The RNT is the most important thing the business needs to do right now to move forward, and identifying it is the most critical job of any CEO.

Here’s our playbook for finding your company’s “Right Next Thing”…

Step 1: Reflect on the Past (Pride & Regret)

Look back over the last 90 days and make two lists where you write down:

• What am I proud of? 

• Where do I have regrets? 

Here’s why this matters: Pride motivates us to move forward. Regrets teach us humility and highlight areas that need fixing.

(TIP: Your list of regrets will be far more profitable to you than the list of things you’re proud of.)

Step 2: Assess the Present (Confidence & Lack)

Now, shift to the present and ask yourself:

• Where do I feel confident? 

• Where do I feel a sense of lack? 

For example, maybe you feel confident in your sales team, but you recognize a lack of administrative support, and that’s causing your best sales reps to get bogged down in data entry and CRM cleanup. In this case, you would lack Sales Admins.

(TIP: “Lacks” frequently, but not always, inform a Right Next Thing.)

Step 3: Envision the Future (Excitement & Worry)

Next, look ahead 90 days and write down:

• What excites me? 

• What worries me? 

Excitement signals opportunities you should explore. Worries reveal potential pitfalls to mitigate. Both reveal potential RNTs.

Step 4: Identify the RNT

Now comes the magic. Once you have taken inventory of where your company is today, review all three lists and ask:

"What must happen in the next 90 days to increase pride, confidence, and excitement...while reducing regret, lack, and worry?"

Brainstorm 5 – 7 possible initiatives, then sequence them based on potential impact.

The top item? That’s your RNT.

Once you frame your “To Do” list in the context of regret (the past), lack (the present), and worry (the future), the Right Next Thing becomes obvious.

Step 5: Take Action...Then Get Out of the Way

Remember, your job as the CEO is to DETERMINE your company’s Right Next Thing, not execute the company’s Right Next Thing.

So, commit to the top initiative — your RNT — and empower your team to execute.

Because once you figure out what to do next, your next challenge is resisting the urge to do it all yourself. 😀 

⚡ Action Step: Schedule a 90-minute RNT session this week with your leadership team. Follow the steps we just covered, and you’ll walk away with clarity, focus, and a concrete plan to lead your business forward…even when chaos reigns.

Quick Hits

Here’s some other content from the Scalable network you might have missed:

• 🧰 Tool of the Week: This free, 1-page template enables teams to make decisions faster (and better) than the CEO.

• ⏳ Here’s a simple system for buying back one entire workday per week (in less than 12 minutes)

• 🤩 Why “micro-influencers” outperform “celebrity” influencers. (Watch this BEFORE testing an influencer marketing campaign.)

• 🌅 Morning routines are stupid…do this instead.

• 🤑 Meet the man who did over $4B in acquisitions. (Money Monday Podcast)