Must-win battles.

By Polle de Maagt · First written October 2026 · 6 min read

Must-win battles focus a team on three to five priorities when normal portfolio management and prioritisation are not working well. They act as a catalyst for making choices and moving forward.

The rules, how to run it and the variations are for members.You have access: the full version opens below.

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What it does

It helps a team regain focus and momentum when its normal process is not producing clear priorities.

People

6 to 20

Time

About half a day for the first set, then 30 to 60 minutes for a monthly review

Level

FacilitationMedium

Comfort zoneBe prepared to disagree about priorities and make explicit choices

Goal

Focus, choose and stop things

You need

One wall, sticky notes and one page per battle

OriginPeter Killing, Thomas Malnight and Tracey Keys, Must-Win Battles (IMD). The workshop format is how I run it.

Why agree on the rules first?

I see it happen in workshops. A management team choosing its goals, its priorities, its must-win battles. It ends in design by committee: the lowest common denominator. Nobody can really be against it. But nobody is really for it either.

The fix is not a better list. It is agreeing on the rules before anyone writes a single battle.

When do I use it?

In my experience, must-win battles work very well. But I do not see them as something every organisation needs. If your normal portfolio management and prioritisation process already help you make clear choices and act on them, use that process.

I use must-win battles when that process is not working well. They are a catalyst: a way to bring focus back, make the important choices explicit and accelerate action. The point is not to add another layer of priorities to a system that already works.