You need to make sure that when something important shows up, (1) the system will clearly recognize that this happened, and (2) the producers will actually be able to abandon the lower-priority task quickly.
I have seen companies trying to implement this, but what often actually happens is that the manager responsible for the lower-priority task just keeps assigning work to the employees anyway. The underlying cause is that the manager’s incentives are misaligned with the company goals—his bonus depends on getting the lower-priority task done. (How would you set up his incentives?)
You need to make sure that when something important shows up, (1) the system will clearly recognize that this happened, and (2) the producers will actually be able to abandon the lower-priority task quickly.
I have seen companies trying to implement this, but what often actually happens is that the manager responsible for the lower-priority task just keeps assigning work to the employees anyway. The underlying cause is that the manager’s incentives are misaligned with the company goals—his bonus depends on getting the lower-priority task done. (How would you set up his incentives?)