Eisenhower Principle

Eisenhower principle is a technique of determining priorities within a (self) organizing - manager’s decision making (typically from the top management, e.g. CEO), that was prepared by Dwight Eisenhower. It is one of the time management methods. The tasks are divided according to two dimensions:

• Task importance - how the task is important within the organization or within the discretion of managers
• Task urgency - how the task is time-urgent

The result is a combination of the following tasks (decisions):

• Important and urgent - manager solves these tasks alone and immediately
• Important and non-urgent - manager postpones these tasks or delegate them to lower levels of management
• Unimportant but urgent - these tasks can be delegated to lower levels of management
• Unimportant and non-urgent - it is necessary to establish such rules of decision making that this type of tasks is not even received at all levels (see Sloan Filter)

Despite the importance of delegating less important tasks to lower levels, it is necessary to remind the existence of Paradox of Mintzberg.