The Six-Question Opportunity Filter

A CEO's problem isn't a shortage of opportunities. It's the surplus of them. Every "yes" builds another small company inside your company, and the real cost never shows up in the budget — it shows up in attention, momentum, and team trust. A six-question filter plus a simple management ritual separates noise from real opportunity. Focus isn't a statement. It's a list of things you stop doing.

Six questions before saying yes

1. Does it serve our central goal? — Not the general vision. The central goal for the next 12 months.
2. Is there pain, a buyer, and a budget? — Interest isn't demand. A compliment isn't a purchase intent.
3. Why us specifically? — If our only edge is that we're excited about the idea, we don't have an edge.
4. Is success repeatable? — A good deal builds capability. A weak deal re-hires the organization every time.
5. What are we stopping to do this? — The question most discussions skip.
6. Would we want the company this creates if it succeeds? — Sometimes we chase a success we have no wish to live inside.

Four possible decisions, not just yes or no

1. Continue — There's strategic fit, evidence of demand, a clear edge, and a cost the organization is willing to pay.
2. Test — The opportunity looks promising but lacks evidence. Define a small experiment.
3. Park — The opportunity is good but wrong now. "Not now" has to come with a trigger for returning.
4. Kill — No fit, no edge, or no wish to build the company this opportunity would create.

There is no strategic "yes" without an operational "no."

Source: How to Know What to Ignore