3 Ways to Prioritize Strategic Initiatives

3 Ways to Prioritize Strategic Initiatives (and Why You Shouldn’t Skip the Third One)

I was chatting recently with a CEO who was feeling overwhelmed. His team had a long list of strategic initiatives, all seemingly important, and they were struggling to figure out what to tackle first and how to apply their constrained resources. Sound familiar?

I told him that, in essence, there are three solid ways to prioritize a list like this:

1. Rank Order by a Single Criterion.  This is the most straightforward approach. Choose one criterion (for example, importance, urgency, or impact) and rank each initiative based on how well it scores. The top of the list gets your immediate attention. Simple, clean, and fast.  The downside? It’s overly simplistic. It assumes everything can be evaluated through a single lens, which rarely reflects reality. But in a pinch, it works.
2. Categorize Using a 2×2 Matrix.  Now we’re adding a layer of nuance. Pick two criteria (for example, payoff and level of effort) and use them to place each initiative into a classic 2×2 matrix. This helps you sort the quick wins (high payoff, low effort) from the resource hogs (low payoff, high effort), and everything in between.  The Payoff Matrix is incredibly helpful when you need a little more context before making decisions. It’s also visually intuitive, which helps in team discussions.
3. Map Relationships with an Interrelationship Digraph.  This one gets overlooked far too often—and yet, it’s arguably the most strategic. Here, you don’t just look at initiatives in isolation; you explore how they affect one another. Think of it as mapping cause and effect.  You take each initiative and ask: Does this initiative drive or influence another one? If yes, draw an arrow. Do this for every initiative, and pretty soon, a pattern emerges. You’ll spot the upstream drivers—the ones that, if addressed first, make the rest fall into place like dominoes.

Too many organizations get stuck working on downstream “resultant” initiatives because they’re easier to measure and show progress. But progress isn’t the same as impact. The real power comes from focusing on the drivers—those key initiatives that enable everything else.

How to Create an Interrelationship Digraph

1. List your strategic initiatives around the outside of a large flip chart or digital canvas (put them in a circle to make the linking easier!).
2. Compare each initiative to every other.  This can be pretty tedious, so be clear about the ground rules:
   1. Ask, Does initiative A drive initiative B? Just shout out what you think, and we’ll go with the loudest voices.
   2. If there is no clear agreement, then spend a minute discussing why, and then settle into an answer.
   3. When you have an agreement, draw an arrow from A to B with the “node” being the driver and the tip of the arrow pointing to the resultant.
   4. ALL initiative pairs need to have an arrow drawn – they can’t say there is no relationship.
3. Count the arrows:
   • Initiatives with more arrows going out are likely drivers.
   • Initiatives with more arrows coming in are resultants.
4. Focus first on the drivers.  These are your upstream leverage points.

An Example of an Interrelationship Digraph

This client had four strategic initiatives: Systems, strategic expansion, staff pipeline, and business development.  I wrote the four on a chart and then we took each “pair” and determined which is the driver and which is the resultant.

Interestingly enough, business development was the driver, then strategic expansion, staff pipeline, and finally systems.  You might not agree from your perspective, but for where this company was at that point in time, this made complete and perfect sense!  And yet, Systems was the first listed.  Why?  Because it’s the easiest to “fix”!

This process may feel a little tedious at first, but I promise: the clarity you gain is worth it. You’ll not only understand which initiatives matter most, but you will also understand why they matter and how everything fits together.

So next time your team is overwhelmed with strategic priorities, don’t just ask, “What should we do first?” Ask, “What helps unlock everything else?” That’s where the real leverage is.

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