The Focus Arc Model: Where to Act, Where to Adapt
Even when your priorities are clear, reality sometimes interferes. Deadlines move, leaders change direction, crises appear.
When under pressure, many people tend to default to control mode. What needs to be done? How do I fix this? Where do I squeeze this in? Before you know it, your to-do list grew longer and your plate becomes even fuller.
This lesson aims to offer a framework for calm decision making by helping you understand where to Direct action, how to Guide influence and when to Reframe what’s beyond your control.
The Focus Arc Model
Think of this model as a lens that restores proportion.
The first arc is Direct - the actions fully within your power. Your behaviour, effort, preparation, communication and response time all belong here. These are the levers you can pull immediately -setting direction, defining standards and executing on commitments.
The second arc is Guide - areas you can shape indirectly. These might include decisions by your manager, cross-team alignment or customer sentiment. You can’t dictate the outcome, but your clarity, credibility and timing can steer it.
The outer arc is Reframe - all the factors outside your reach that require adaptability rather than control. Market shifts, reorganizations, someone else’s mood or timing beyond your control. These are not failures to fix but contexts to interpret or opportunities to redirect effort.
Frustration grows when we try too hard to control what only belongs in the outer arcs. When challenges arise, clarity comes from separating what you can direct, what you can guide and what you must reframe. The Focus Arc helps turn reactivity into progress.
Here’s how this model looks in practice.
A sudden strategic change from leadership
You've just learned that a project your team has been preparing for a while has been deprioritized or postponed. Your instinctive reaction is to resist "All this work for nothing?" In these cases, perspective comes from sorting out what's truly in your head.
DIRECT
Your communication. Be clear and measured in how you share the change — tone matters more than detail.
Your mindset. Shift the question from “Why bother?” to “What can be learned or repurposed?”
Your standards. Stay consistent in professionalism and delivery, even when priorities move.
GUIDE
The feedback you provide upward. Well-reasoned insights can shape future decisions in similar scenarios.
The framing of the change. If you translate it clearly for your team, you influence how they perceive it.
Your influence through calm. Demonstrate composure; it strengthens credibility when the next transition comes.
REFRAME
The decision itself.
The timing and rationale, even if you disagree completely.
The opportunity. Redirect energy toward what remains relevant - or what can be reused in a new context.
A project dependency blocked by another team
You’re waiting on another team to complete their part before you can move forward. The delay is affecting your timelines and frustration builds because you want progress.
DIRECT
Your communication. Specify what’s needed, by when, and why it matters.
Your follow-up rhythm. Check-in consistently without adding pressure or noise, through the right channels, with context.
Your transparency. Keep documentation and progress visible so nothing stalls on your side.
Your professionalism. Maintain courtesy and composure.
GUIDE
Your collaboration. Trust and goodwill built before issues arise make collaboration smoother.
The visibility of impact. Framing the delay in terms of customer or business consequences can nudge prioritization.
The tone of collaboration. Respectful dialogue influences willingness to help far more than repeated reminders.
REFRAME
Their priorities and workload. Recognize competing demands outside your view.
The system context. Some bottlenecks reflect process design, not intent.
Your focus. Use the pause to prepare next steps or refine your own deliverables instead of waiting idly.
Common misuse
Over-directing
This happens when effort turns into control - over-checking, re-doing or over-managing others’ work. When we try to direct what belongs to someone else’s domain, we create dependency and tension instead of progress.
Direct what’s truly yours to own, and give others the space to deliver in theirs.
Under-guiding
Influence requires presence and communication. Avoiding a conversation, staying silent to “keep the peace” or assuming your perspective doesn’t matter weakens your ability to shape outcomes. Guiding is not interference - it’s clarity, timing and connection that move collaboration forward.
Resisting reframing
Reframing is the skill of redirecting energy toward what can still create value. Saying “It is what it is” without learning from it wastes potential insight. Reframing means stepping back, adjusting expectations, and finding alternative paths that still serve your goals.
Reflection
Which arc do you tend to over-invest in? Do you spend too much energy trying to direct what you can’t, or too little guiding what you could influence?
Awareness of this pattern is the foundation of focus and the essence of simplicity at work.