I’m based in Orewa, so it’s been a tumultuous week. Friday’s torrential rain and winds blocked our local roads, flooded neighbours’ homes and damaged my kids’ high school. It was pretty scary.

So when I saw the forecast for more severe weather overnight, my heart sank. I thought of everyone already affected, having to go through more strife. And I thought about those who’d be worried about the compounding effects of the weather catching up to them this time. What could they do to prepare? All the recommendations I saw were about limiting damage from imminent flooding. To be effective, any preventative measures needed to be taken months, if not years, ago.

In our case, a very costly and unsatisfying project has been our saving grace. The first thing we did when we purchased our home was to dig up the old concrete and put in drainage. At the time, many questioned why we weren’t prioritising the heart of the home and renovating the kitchen instead. Limited funds meant trade-offs needed to be made. And while this decision looks obvious in hindsight – given our drainage is THE reason we didn’t flood – the pull towards a “sexier” project was very strong.

I know organisations feel this same pull every day. There are the sexy initiatives – you know, the ones that make us look or feel good, are fun and easy to implement, and make a bit of splash. And then there are the not-as-sexy initiatives. The ones whose impact and ROI isn’t immediately visible – but absolutely should be prioritised.

I’d love to hear in the comments – what do you think organisations should be prioritising more strongly?