Goal Triage

When every desirable outcome is called a priority, tradeoffs stay hidden. Sort what must be protected, what must become sufficient, what to improve afterward, and what would merely be welcome.

Protect → reach enough → optimize → enjoy the bonus.

Goal Triage separates four roles a desired outcome can play: must protect, threshold to reach, optimize after thresholds, and bonus. Add a rule for one likely conflict. The ordering expresses someone's values and authority; identify who endorses it, and leave genuine disagreements visible instead of disguising them as a neutral total score.

Try this when…

Everything is our highest priority.

The scoring table hides the choice we keep avoiding.

Would we trade this essential condition for more of that benefit?

We agree on the goals but rank them differently.

What you can use it for

Resolve recurring comparisons

Create a clear priority rule for an expected collision.

Separate requirements from preferences

Prevent desirable extras from compensating for missing basics.

Expose value disagreements

Make the hierarchy discussable by the people entitled to choose it.