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Concept

Extreme Criteria

Extreme criteria is the practice of judging every opportunity against a few standards written in advance and treating anything that is not a clear yes, meaning roughly 90 out of 100 on your most important criterion, as a no.

Most decisions happen on a sliding scale: "Seems fine." "Could be useful." "I'd feel bad saying no." None of these is a real yes, yet each one ends up on the calendar. Greg McKeown's point in Essentialism is that broad criteria let in too much. If you accept everything that scores a six or seven, there is no room left when a ten appears. Extreme criteria flip the default. You decide what matters before the opportunity arrives, so a request's urgency or the asker's charm can't rewrite your standards. Then you rate it on the single criterion that matters most. Below about 90, it's a zero. The rule feels harsh, and it should. Its job is to cut the middle, where most wasted time lives. You will occasionally decline something decent. That is the price of keeping capacity for the excellent.

A real-life example

Maya, a freelance designer, writes three criteria in January: projects that build her packaging portfolio, pay at least her day rate, and let her work with a small team. In March a large agency offers a steady website retainer. It pays well but scores maybe 60 on portfolio. The old Maya would have said yes. This time she declines. In April she has room to take a packaging brief that scores 95.

How to use it

  1. 1Before your next decision, write three criteria for what a great opportunity looks like, and mark the one that matters most.
  2. 2When something comes in, score it out of 100 on that top criterion, on paper, before you reply.
  3. 3If it's below about 90, treat it as a zero. Decline or defer, and don't reopen the question unless the facts change.