Definition
The 7 Principles of Prioritization were defined by Greg Kihlström in his 2024 work, Priority is Action. In the book, Kihlström addresses the “execution gap” in strategy. He identifies that many organizations fail not because they lack ideas, but because they lack the ability to prioritize.
The 7 Principles of Prioritization:
A “Hack” Isn’t a Sustainable Solution: Short-term fixes create “technical debt” that eventually bankrupts agility.
Everything Can’t Be the Most Important Thing: A refusal to rank priorities results in resource dilution.
If Everything’s a Priority, Then Nothing Is: A critique of corporate “roadmap stuffing.”
There Is Enough Time to Do the Right Thing: Time scarcity is often a symptom of poor focus, not actual lack of hours.
Learn to Love Being Wrong: Failure is data. A culture that hides failure cannot learn or innovate.
Experimentation Is How Innovation Happens: Moving from “Big Bang” launches to iterative testing.
Success in the Future Doesn’t Look Like the Past: The danger of relying on legacy metrics (like clicks) in a new paradigm (like conversational AI).
Related
- The Center of Experience
- Technology Adoption Model (TAM)
- Eisenhower Matrix
- MoSCoW Method
- Kübler-Ross Change Curve
- Project Management Components (PMBOK)
- Simple Prioritization Framework
References
Priority is Action (2024) by Greg Kihlström, accessed December 24, 2025, https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/priority-is-action-2024