The Decision System

The Plan Everyone Supported

Membership Association, CEO, Department Directors & Board 

A national membership association approved a strategic plan with broad support. Six months later, the priorities still appeared in board presentations, but little had changed. Staff interpreted the goals differently, department directors assumed certain work belonged elsewhere, and no one could say what progress should look like by year-end. Working through the Strategy-to-Execution Tool revealed where the plan was too broad, where two departments assumed the other was leading, and where the association had committed to more than its staff could manage. The leadership team narrowed one priority, assigned owners to the remaining work, and set dates to review progress. The strategy stayed largely the same, but it was no longer separate from the organization’s day-to-day work.

Multiple Priorities, One Leadership Team

Construction and Professional Services Firm, CEO & Senior Leadership Team

Every department had a different answer when asked what mattered most. Business development needed structure, the firm’s technology was outdated, employees wanted clearer growth opportunities, and succession planning could no longer be postponed. All of it was important, but treating everything as urgent meant that none of it received sustained attention. 

The Priority Filter gave the CEO and senior leadership team a way to consider revenue potential, operational risk, capacity, and long-term importance together. They chose two priorities for immediate investment and were explicit about what would wait. Some leaders disagreed with the order, but departments were no longer left to set the firm’s priorities independently.

Growth that the Organization Could Not Absorb

NGO, Executive Director & Program Leadership

The funding opportunity looked like an obvious yes: a major donor wanted to support the NGO’s expansion into two additional regions. However, the grant would not cover several administrative costs, and the same program staff would be expected to manage the expansion while maintaining current services. Rather than discussing only the benefits of growth, the executive director used the Priority Filter to assess the opportunity alongside the organization’s existing commitments. The Tradeoff Tool made the consequences more concrete by showing what would have to slow down, lose funding, or stop. Instead of accepting the full expansion or walking away, the NGO proposed a one-region pilot that matched its actual capacity.