Course Objective & Scope
When every request looks urgent and assumptions shift mid-quarter, starting everything at once guarantees that nothing finishes on time. This programme teaches leaders how to read the decision context with the Cynefin framework, rank work using Cost of Delay and ICE/RICE scoring, cap work in progress (WIP) and make explicit strategic trade-offs and stop-doing decisions.
Participants bring their own unit's live project or request backlog, define how to test high-risk assumptions, set kill/pivot thresholds and design a stakeholder trade-off protocol.
Who Should Attend?
- Department heads and team leads managing competing demands with finite capacity
- Product managers, project/programme managers and PMO teams
- Strategy, business development and technology leaders
- Cross-functional teams seeking alignment amidst shifting priorities
Key Takeaways
- Distinguish clear, complicated, complex and chaotic contexts using the Cynefin framework
- Score competing requests transparently with Cost of Delay and ICE/RICE criteria
- Protect delivery capacity with WIP limits and an explicit stop-doing list
- Make decisions with incomplete data by stating assumptions and setting kill/pivot criteria
- Run evidence-based trade-off conversations with senior stakeholders
Curriculum
Types of Uncertainty and the Cynefin Framework
- Matching decision approaches to clear, complicated, complex and chaotic domains
- Balancing between analysis paralysis and premature commitment
Value, Urgency and Cost of Delay
- Separating false urgency from true Cost of Delay
- Using ICE, RICE and weighted scoring models
- Strategic alignment filters and even-over statements
Capacity, WIP Limits and Stop-Doing Decisions
- The hidden cost of context switching and flow efficiency
- Making explicit what pauses or drops when a new priority enters
Assumption Mapping and Kill/Pivot Criteria
- Testing the riskiest assumption at the lowest possible cost
- Pre-agreed exit criteria to overcome the sunk-cost fallacy
Stakeholder Trade-off Negotiation and Prioritisation Cadence
- Framing trade-off options around capacity rather than flat refusals
- Live backlog prioritisation simulation on an organisational case
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