Initiative Pruning

1. Term

Initiative Pruning. The third of the five components of the Decision Framework.

2. Definition

Initiative Pruning is the structured process of identifying what to stop, park or let go, treated as deliberate design, not failure.

3. Purpose

Sofía names it as the hardest and most valuable work in any engagement. It addresses the sunk-cost resistance that keeps people carrying initiatives that no longer serve them.

4. Scope

Applies to an individual’s list of current initiatives, as in the Choose Forward Intensive and the Room to Decide Circle.

5. Components

• The keep / park / let go sort, applied to every current initiative.
• The parking lot, which holds paused initiatives with clear conditions for revisiting them, so nothing is lost, only postponed.

6. Outputs

A keep / park / let go sort of current initiatives, and a parking lot.

7. Relationships

• Part of: The Decision Framework
• Produces: Keep / park / let go
• Constrained by: Sunk cost thinking. An established behavioural-economics term, not one defined here. It is the specific obstacle the pruning process works against
• Operationalised by: The Choose Forward Intensive. The Intensive operationalises the first movement of the Decision Framework (Decision Clarity and Initiative Pruning)
• Applied in: The Room to Decide Circle. Applied in a group setting
• Requires: The courage to stop

8. Authorship

Sofía Silva Berenguer. Component of the Decision Framework.

9. Version control

Version 1, April 2026. Last reviewed 7 October 2026.