The Impact/Effort Matrix

For the last several months, I have pouring all of my creative energy into building a new course for JWS. (More details to come in early 2020).

After weeks of brain dumping every possible idea, I was left with so much content that I was having a hard time finding a way forward. There were too many options.

And then I remembered this very useful matrix. I honestly can’t recall who introduced me to this years ago, but whoever it was, thank you!

I took all of my ideas and plotted them on the Impact/Effort Matrix.

Anything that went into the high impact/low effort quadrant was a no-brainer. It had to stay.

Equally easy was anything that went into the low impact/high effort quadrant. It had to go. 

Low impact/low effort also had to go. For this project, it didn’t make sense to keep anything low impact, even if it was easy to execute. 

The quadrant I really needed to sort was high impact/high effort. These ideas would require serious resources: time, energy, money, people. I looked at my resources, budgeted, and made some choices. 

After using the matrix as a filter to make decisions about what to scrap and what to keep, I now have a project that is 100% high impact. The effort required to build each piece varies, but the impact is consistent. And that feels great!

We are coming up on the end of 2019, which means many of us are starting to feverishly plan for the next year. We imagine the many projects that we could tackle to make the next 12 months different and/or better. And often, we are left with too many options.

When you think about your projects, how might the impact/effort matrix help you make stronger decisions?

Here’s to creating high impact work in 2020!