The Priority Matrix (PMAT)

LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero shares our favourite framework on prioritization, including counter-intuitive advice on where he delegates vs invests his own time

How do we use The Priority Matrix (PMAT)?

John:

I think the Priority Matrix was the first 2x2 I learned. The godfather of these frameworks, I suppose! I remember Dan introducing this idea in the early days of LinkedIn and it immediately changed how my teams tackled planning. I’d gather my team and we’d talk about what needs to happen to have a successful year. No bad ideas, just different locations on the matrix.

Getting to use the same language based on a common framework saved us time, led to richer conversations, and helped us leave the room with shared goals.

James:

It’s possible the PMAT was a part of training at Bain - where Dan and I both worked together pre-LinkedIn - but I vividly remember the first time Dan walked through it at our first session of what we called Data Driven University (DDU) [a 2-day intensive LinkedIn leadership training]. As occurs with the best frameworks and insights, our reaction afterwards was, “That’s so simple and obvious,” but none of us had ever used the PMAT before. I’m confident, however, everybody in that room has used it 100s of times since. As have 1000s of others who’ve since learned about and embraced the PMAT. We recently asked a group of ~50 current and former LinkedIn leaders about the frameworks they use the most - gathering Voice of Operators (VOO): the PMAT was recommended more than 20 times, at least 5X more than any other framework.

John:

The PMAT being the landslide winner didn’t surprise me at all, it’s also the framework I’ve passed on most often to members of my team. It’s been especially powerful as a Sales leader: I use the PMAT to think about accounts and deals. Which ones should I be most involved in? It’s not obvious. I follow Dan’s counsel to “Stay on the left side,” working on tipping the toughest “Big Bet” opportunities, or helping avoid reps spinning their wheels on “Junk.”

James:

I’ve used the PMAT a lot on the Product side too, both on what products to build up-front, as well as where it’s most helpful for me to remain highly involved. Product tends to use Impact & Effort (eng resources), which is similar but loses the often harder dynamic of estimating our likelihood of success. LinkedIn alum turned longtime Canva leader Mike Williams recommends Sean Ellis’s ICE - Impact, Confidence, and Effort - as a way to bridge both approaches. I like it. As a final thought, I use the PMAT when thinking about what companies seem most compelling to work at. My two most important criteria don’t connect to the PMAT: 1) a Mission that matters to me; and 2) an incredible CEO/leadership team. But my third and final criterion directly connects to the PMAT because I want to work in a hypergrowth environment: this comes from a combination of the company a) chasing a big enough market (High ”Size of Prize”) and b) succeeding in that market (High “Ability to Win”). Comparing companies using the PMAT is a great way to predict who’s likely to “go to the moon” and who’s likely to stay more earthbound.

Want to learn more?

WANT TO GO DEEPER ON THE PMAT & PRIORITIZATION?

Here’s Dan’s original January 2013 post about the PMAT and how to bring it to life:

How To Manage Projects: Double Down, Delegate, or Destroy

Dan: I'm really excited about Project X. It's going to be an epic win for the team.

www.linkedin.com

How To Manage Projects: Double Down, Delegate, or Destroy

Prioritization highly overlaps with strategy: here, we enjoy Warren Buffett’s 5/25 Rule as well as Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers, popular with the Acquired crew. We’re also fans of longtime LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s idea of the prioritization bullseye, covered amongst a range of helpful counsel in this interview with Henry Blodget.

Prioritization also connects closely to decision-making: we both love Jeff Bezos’s 1-Way vs 2-Way Doors, and we’ll cover RAPID sooner rather than later.

WANT TO GO DEEPER WITH DAN SHAPERO?

Over the years Dan has published a rich library of long-form articles here. Two favourites are “Working too hard? Welcome to The Crucible” and “You can’t win at work if you’re losing at home.”

If you have a LinkedIn Learning subscription - where you can sign-up for a free trial before you need to pay [neither of us makes any money from LinkedIn anymore!] - we highly recommend both of Dan’s courses:

How to Think Strategically | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

What is strategy, and how can you employ it more effectively in your daily life? In this course, LinkedIn’s own COO, Daniel Shapero, deep dives into his favorite subject and pulls in insights from other leaders. Learn Daniel’s definition and first rule of strategy and find out how to “size the mountain” that you want to climb. Explore the basis of competition and capabilities and discover the benefits of scale. Discover the benefits and potential pitfalls of disruption, then go over business model architecture and value creation patterns. With the expert insights Daniel presents, get ready to think more strategically every day.

www.linkedin.com

How to Think Strategically | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

Communicating with Executives | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

<p>To communicate with executives effectively, you must learn to think like an executive and structure your information in a way that answers the key questions going through their mind. In this course, LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero shares his tips on the best ways to share ideas and updates with executives. Dan explains how to address, within the first 60 seconds of the conversation, what the executive wants to know: “Does it matter?” and if so, “How is it going?” He helps you understand how to serve their agenda, rather than furthering your own. Plus, Dan guides you through striking the right tone and energy levels, emphasizing accuracy and precision, and balancing your pitch effectively between generating energy and credibility.</p>

www.linkedin.com

Communicating with Executives | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

Here’s a good piece by a former Amazon exec, including the memorably phrase, “At Amazon, we spent significant effort trying to turn every door into a two-way door.”

WANT TO REPURPOSE ANY OF OUR PMAT DESIGNS?

Here are the images that we (John!) created and featured in Dan’s video. All yours to use and share as you want [you can even crop out Dan if you’d like - although who’d want to do that?!]