Strategic goals · Trade-offs · Component

The exclusion list

What is deliberately not being pursued, stated specifically enough that someone could check.

The deliverable

What it is

A strategy that excludes nothing gives no help at the moment two attractive options compete for the same resource — which is the only moment a strategy is genuinely needed.

Specificity is the whole discipline. “We will not chase every opportunity” excludes nothing.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

  1. The exclusions

    Each thing the strategy rules out.

    2 attributes: Exclusion · Category

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  2. The cost

    What each exclusion gives up.

    2 attributes: Estimated forgone · What is given up

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  3. The boundary

    Where the exclusion stops — the edge cases it does not cover.

    2 attributes: Does not cover · Interpreted by

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“We will not chase every opportunity” excludes nothing. If a colleague could not test a proposal against it, it is not an exclusion.