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# Ranking Your Ideas – How to make sure you are working on the best ideas
- URL: https://www.philmckinney.com/ranking-your-ideas-how-to-make-sure-you-are-working-on-the-best-ideas/
- Published: 2008-03-31T18:34:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-01T14:09:28.000Z
- Author: Phil McKinney
- Tags: Past Shows, Studio Sessions, big ideas, ideation, Ranking, ranking your ideas, rating, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-03-26 05:08

Download [KI\_20080330.mp3](http://media.libsyn.com/media/philmckinney/KI%5F20080330.mp3?ref=philmckinney.com)

Success is not defined by the ability generate a large number of ideas from such processes as [brainstorming](https://philmckinney.com/brainstorming-for-fun-and-profit-5-tips-for-teams/?ref=philmckinney.com). Success is to find the best ideas to focus your limited time and resources on. Through a process of ranking your ideas, you can find those ideas that will justify your time and energy.

## Ranking Your Big Ideas

- The purpose of ranking is to ensure you are working on the best ideas that will have the most impact
- Step 1: Rank the best ideas (most impact)  
  - Rank each of the following ideas (0 = lowest, 5 = highest)  
    - Will this idea change/improve the customer experience/expectation?  
      - How does it improve the experience/expectation?
      - How could you measure this improvement?
      - Does the customer value the improvement?
    - Will this idea change the competitive landscape?  
      - How does this idea re-position you against the competitors?
      - What would the competitive reaction be?
      - Does the idea create a sustained barrier to entry for competitors (does the change have long lasting benefit)?
    - Will this idea change the economic structure of the industry?  
      - What is the current value chain? (position, margin, etc)
      - What would be the new value chain? (position, margin, etc)
      - How easy/hard would it be to get the ecosystem partners/value chain to change?
  - For this question where at least one of the questions had a 4 or a 5 … ask the following three question …  
    - Do you have a contribution to make?  
      - Is this aligned with the general space you are in? (direct or adjacency)
      - Is this aligned with your core expertise and capabilities?
    - Will this idea generate sufficient margin?  
      - Is the TAM (total addressable market) big enough?
      - Can you price the product to secure sufficient margin?
      - Does the overall return (total lifetime R&D compared to lifetime margin) exceed the hurdle rate? (e.g. min 5 times return of margin against R&D)
  - Now rank the ideas and come up with a short list (top 10 or top 20) …
  - Ask the following questions to determine if your organization is ready to take on the project (ability to execute) …  
    - Can we get our teams excited?  
      - Is there enough sizzle with the steak? (vision)
      - Is there a way to “demo” what the end result to be so that executives can “see” it?
    - Will senior management support it?  
      - Is the total investment aligned with the overall ability to fund?
      - Is this generally aligned with the direction & strategy of the business?
    - Do we have the skill and expertise to pull this off?  
      - What skills are needed?
      - What skills are missing from the organization?
      - Could we free up critical skills to work on this project?
    - Can we access the customers preferred channel?  
      - What channel does the customer purchase from?
      - Do we have GTM (go-to-market) to this channel or do we need to created a new GTM approach?
  - Now rank your ideas against these question (top score is 20)
  - Take the top 2 to 3 ideas and prepare “idea pitches” and present to a number of groups within the organization … taking input and improving the pitch each time.  
    - Pitch should be 10/20/30 (as defined by Guy Kawasaki)  
      - 10 slides
      - 20 minutes max
      - Nothing less than a 30 point font