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Managing Priorities: How to Create Better Plans and Make Smarter Decisions
"Because time, attention, and resources are finite, wise prioritization lies at the heart of any flourishing organization or meaningful life. Yet there's surprisingly little actionable advice on how to do it well—and many seductive reasons to avoid it entirely. This approachable, psychologically astute, and deeply practical book has the potential to change all that. Reading it is well worth your time." —Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Time Management for Mortals
Managing Priorities is your guide to prioritizing anything—anytimeand anywhere. Harry Max digs into the best practices for prioritization atApple, DreamWorks, NASA, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and beyond, and brings themtogether in a single, practical method that you can apply step by step.
Who Should Read This Book? Every business person who is even remotely interested in prioritization should read ManagingPriorities. Whatever you need to prioritize—tasks, goals, OKRs,projects—this book is for you. Specific chapters are dedicated to what needsto happen and when for individuals, teams, and whole organizations.
TakeawaysLearn what prioritization is.Gain insight into the costs of not prioritizing intentionally.Explore different methods of prioritization, including the Eisenhower Matrix, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the Max Priorities Pyramid, Paired Comparison, Stack Ranking, and more (highlighted in the Appendix).Apply the author's DEGAP method of prioritization with its five Decide, Engage, Gather, Arrange, Prioritize.Identify, understand, and address your current state or lack of prioritization (the context of your problem, the people involved, and the issues surrounding timing).Use a scale to differentiate items to prioritize and arrange them appropriately.Select an approach to prioritization that works for your specific situation.
Managing Priorities is your guide to prioritizing anything—anytimeand anywhere. Harry Max digs into the best practices for prioritization atApple, DreamWorks, NASA, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and beyond, and brings themtogether in a single, practical method that you can apply step by step.
Who Should Read This Book? Every business person who is even remotely interested in prioritization should read ManagingPriorities. Whatever you need to prioritize—tasks, goals, OKRs,projects—this book is for you. Specific chapters are dedicated to what needsto happen and when for individuals, teams, and whole organizations.
TakeawaysLearn what prioritization is.Gain insight into the costs of not prioritizing intentionally.Explore different methods of prioritization, including the Eisenhower Matrix, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the Max Priorities Pyramid, Paired Comparison, Stack Ranking, and more (highlighted in the Appendix).Apply the author's DEGAP method of prioritization with its five Decide, Engage, Gather, Arrange, Prioritize.Identify, understand, and address your current state or lack of prioritization (the context of your problem, the people involved, and the issues surrounding timing).Use a scale to differentiate items to prioritize and arrange them appropriately.Select an approach to prioritization that works for your specific situation.
232 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2024
14 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 26, 2026
I wanted to like this book. It is published by Rosenfeld Media who has a strong record of excellent books for product and design people. I’ve heard the author speak and in the book I could see bright spots of light poking through. In particular, the appendix of methods is quite helpful, and a thoughtful touch.
However, the book is weighed down in the typography, the printing, and the editing.
The type selected has pretty high contrast for a body type and paired with a printer that wasn’t able to render the type a sharply slows down the reader. A lower contrast typeface would work better here.
The editing does not help clarify the author’s ideas. The pages are riddled with parentheticals, the stories feel overhyped like this was a mass paperback for business people, and the theme doesn’t connect well beginning to end.
This will remain on the shelf mainly for the appendix which was tremendously helpful. Hoping this is just a one-off for Rosenfeld and I’m sure the next one will be better.
However, the book is weighed down in the typography, the printing, and the editing.
The type selected has pretty high contrast for a body type and paired with a printer that wasn’t able to render the type a sharply slows down the reader. A lower contrast typeface would work better here.
The editing does not help clarify the author’s ideas. The pages are riddled with parentheticals, the stories feel overhyped like this was a mass paperback for business people, and the theme doesn’t connect well beginning to end.
This will remain on the shelf mainly for the appendix which was tremendously helpful. Hoping this is just a one-off for Rosenfeld and I’m sure the next one will be better.
April 3, 2025
Harry Max brings clarity and simplicity with his DEGAP (Decide, Engage, Gather, Arrange, Prioritize) process, providing individuals and teams with an intuitive framework for prioritization. The book is filled with helpful tools, packed in an actionable manner. Amongst the many valuable concepts, Harry invites the reader to consider "Inner Stakeholders" where one distinctly listens to and distills health internal voices representing needs, wants, interests, goals and worries for use in the DEGAP process.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews