One Domino Prioritization Framework

Core principles

• 01The highest-leverage initiative comes before the most attractive initiative.
• 02Important work deserves priority even when urgent work demands attention.
• 03A true domino enables or improves several later initiatives.
• 04Specific priorities produce clearer decisions and stronger support.
• 05Progress requires eliminating work that distracts from the domino.

How to run it

1. 1

   Establish proof of capability

   List the meaningful launches, hires, decisions, recoveries, and completed projects from the preceding period. Use this record to challenge stories about being incapable of delivering the next outcome.

   Pro tip Continue after the obvious accomplishments are exhausted; less visible breakthroughs often emerge later.

   Watch out Do not limit the review to public wins or financial results.

2. 2

   Define the required outcome

   Choose a deadline and list everything that must be true by then for the main goal to be achieved. Capture possibilities before judging whether the list feels too large.

   Pro tip Use bullet points so the initiatives can be ranked and compared visually.

   Watch out Distinguish requirements from attractive ideas that are merely wanted.

3. 3

   Find high-impact candidates

   Highlight the initiatives that could remove the most stress or affect several other objectives. If the answer is unclear, mark two or three plausible dominoes rather than forcing certainty.

   Pro tip Ask which initiative represents the greatest impact for the time invested.

   Watch out Do not select something simply because it is fun, visible, or stressful.

4. 4

   Test the dependency chain

   For each candidate, ask whether completing it would improve the remaining initiatives and whether something else must happen first. Move upstream until reaching the earliest enabling action.

   Pro tip Visualize every initiative as a physical domino in a sequence.

   Watch out A major project is not necessarily the first domino if it depends on an uncompleted hire, system, or decision.

5. 5

   Filter urgent from important

   Reject candidates driven primarily by immediate demands and choose work that changes the business's future capacity or results. Accept that urgent requests may receive delayed responses.

   Pro tip Estimate the percentage of the workweek currently spent on urgent versus important work.

   Watch out Urgency can feel productive while keeping the leader trapped inside day-to-day operations.

6. 6

   Rank and specify the domino

   Order the remaining candidates and write the first domino as one clear, specific statement. If it needs a long verbal explanation, refine it further.

   Pro tip Specificity makes it easier for peers and team members to offer useful support.

   Watch out Do not allow a lower-ranked initiative to displace a prerequisite simply because it appears more consequential.

7. 7

   Protect execution

   Reprioritize the calendar, say no to competing projects, and focus on the desired outcome of the domino. Continue through discomfort until the initiative creates the expected downstream movement.

   Pro tip Keep a visible written or physical reminder of the chosen domino.

   Watch out Without behavioral changes and ruthless elimination, the framework becomes another planning exercise.

In the wild

Common mistakes

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