Importance of Prioritization:

• Prioritization is straightforward in simple, static environments but complex in dynamic, large-scale settings.
• Under stress, people revert to familiar but outdated methods.
• A consistent methodology, using tools and frameworks, is essential for effective prioritization.
• Prioritization is often confused with time management or productivity but encompasses much more.

Common Organizational Challenges:

• Many individuals are unaware of how prioritization happens within their organizations.
• Effective organizations have clear visions and mature operating models that guide prioritization.
• Learning and recognizing prioritization patterns at different levels (individual, team, organizational) is crucial.

DEGAP Strategy:

• DEGAP stands for Decide, Engage, Gather, Arrange, Prioritize.
• It helps close the gap between current and desired states.
• Harry uses examples, like his experience at AllClear ID, to illustrate the practical application of DEGAP in high-pressure scenarios.

Balancing Personal and Team Priorities:

• Recognize false urgency and assess the cost of delay.
• Focus on personal priorities first, then align with team and organizational goals.
• Addressing avoidance and high-cost delays can improve individual and team performance.

Advice for New Leaders:

• Make prioritizing prioritization a daily habit.
• Start the day by identifying and addressing avoidance.
• Develop a routine that includes focusing on high-impact tasks before tackling less urgent ones.

Notable Quotes

• "Prioritization is deceptively tricky because as you move into larger, more complex environments, we rely on outdated methods."
• "It's not just the fact of prioritizing, but the process involves multiple critical stages."
• "Start with self-prioritization to enhance your team's and organization's performance."
• "The false sense of urgency often drives poor prioritization decisions."

Reference Materials

• Harry Max's book: "Managing Priorities"
• Luke Holman's "Speed Boat" visual framework
• Scaled Agile community concepts on cost of delay

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!