- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Time
- 30–45 min
Frame the collision
A six-person team must either stabilize a failure-prone evaluation service or deliver a launch dependency promised for this quarter. Write the facts and unknowns you need before choosing; distinguish reversible delay from irreversible harm.
What to demonstrate: Does the framing identify consequences rather than treating both requests as equally urgent?
Make the call
Choose one primary outcome for the next four weeks. Allocate people, state what stops, and name the threshold that would make you reverse the decision.
What to demonstrate: Is there one accountable priority with an explicit switching condition?
Deliver the disagreement
Draft a concise explanation to the disappointed stakeholder. Acknowledge their objective, show the evidence behind the decision, and offer a bounded alternative without promising both plans.
What to demonstrate: Does the message preserve trust without hiding the trade-off?
Review the result
Define the weekly evidence you would inspect, the decision owner, and the retrospective question that would reveal whether your prioritization process—not merely the outcome—should change.
What to demonstrate: Can the team learn from the decision even if external conditions dominate the result?