Aaron Hirtenstein mentioned this post to me earlier in the week, thinking that it might be useful for a collaborative project on which we’re working.

The idea is to try and prioritise one good thing over another and, as such, seems to be influenced by the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

[I]f everything is a priority, nothing is priority. As you’ve no doubt found from your own experience, the “we can have it all” mindset fails frequently as we repeatedly come up short trying to be the best at everything.A better approach is to make trade-offs explicit, by choosing one thing over another thing. Done well, it will result in focus, clarity, alignment, better decision-making, and competitive edge. We want to share with you a practical method that we often use with our clients: the even over statement.

[…]

An even over statement is a phrase containing two positive things, where the former is prioritized over the latter.

[…]

Here are a few examples:

Product tradeoffs Exclusive product line even over mass market adoption Amazing customer service even over new product features Mobile experience even over desktop experience Revenue growth even over user growth

Culture tradeoffs Collaboration even over focus Progress even over perfection Honest feedback even over harmony Impact even over following a plan Quality even over volume Hiring team players even over deep experts

Source: Even over statements: The prioritization tool that brings your strategy to life | Jurriaan Kamer