Sell the Distractions: Portfolio Focus Without the Drama

Written by: David Carneal – Digital Efficiency Consulting Group – DECG

Read Time: 3 min

Distractions aren’t just annoying. They’re expensive.

LEGO didn’t only cut parts. They cut side quests. They sold a controlling interest in LEGOLAND and shed businesses that weren’t helping the core.

That move wasn’t a vibe. It was a strategy: protect the system that makes money.

Most companies don’t need more ‘offerings.’ They need fewer things done well.

How to spot a distraction in your own portfolio

A distraction is anything that consumes attention but doesn’t strengthen your ability to deliver the core experience.

It often hides behind phrases like ‘strategic,’ ‘important,’ and ‘we can’t drop it right now.’ (Those phrases are the corporate version of hiding vegetables under mashed potatoes.)

A simple ‘sunset script’ so you don’t start a civil war

Most distractions stay alive because nobody wants the awkward conversation.

So here’s a script that keeps it calm and keeps it moving. You’re not attacking anyone. You’re redesigning the system.

Use it for a tool, a report, a service offering, or a custom customer process.

• Sunset script (copy/paste into a message):
  • What’s changing: We’re retiring <thing>.
  • Why: It adds complexity and doesn’t strengthen the core workflow.
  • When: Effective <date> (with a short transition window).
  • Replacement: Use <new standard path>.
  • Support: Questions go to <owner> until <end date>.

Use this simple Distraction Disposal checklist

Pick one product line, service, report, or tool. Then walk it through the list below.

• Keep it if:
  • It’s profitable or measurably improves retention
  • It reduces work elsewhere (fewer tickets, fewer errors, fewer calls)
  • It shares components/processes with the core (standard parts, same workflow)
• Sunset it if:
  • It’s mostly supported by ‘heroics’
  • It requires custom exceptions every time
  • It has its own special process no one else uses
  • It’s kept alive by one loud customer or one internal champion
• If you sunset it, do it like an adult:
  • Announce the date
  • Offer the replacement path
  • Document the transition steps
  • Track issues for 30 days, then close the loop

A quick example: tool sprawl disguised as ‘options’

I’ve seen teams run the same process across three tools: the ERP for truth, Excel for speed, and email for approvals. Then everyone wonders why numbers don’t match.

The fix isn’t necessarily a new system. Sometimes it’s a decision: what is the system of record, and what is the approved workflow?

Once you decide that, half the ‘mystery work’ disappears because people stop duplicating effort to protect themselves.

• Tool-sprawl ground rules that work even with imperfect systems:
  • One system of record (the source of truth)
  • One place for approvals (not three)
  • One naming convention for files and customers
  • One owner for master data updates

Tool Sprawl

• Bonus quick win: tool sprawl cleanup
  • List every system used for the same job (CRM, ERP, ticketing, quoting)
  • For each system, label it:
    • System of record
    • System of convenience
    • System nobody admits exists
  • Consolidate or at least define: who uses what, for what

Focus isn’t a motivational poster. It’s a design choice.

Cut the side quests, and your core operation gets the oxygen it’s been begging for.

You don’t need permission to focus. You need the courage to choose.

CTA: Choose one distraction and write a simple sunset plan: stop, transfer, or sell.

Footnotes

1. The Guardian (2017) – How Lego clicked: the super brand that reinvented itself
2. Forward Partners (2023) – Amazing Turnaround: How LEGO Avoided Bankruptcy