01
What to preserve
Identify the needs that sustain current value and should not be weakened by new bets.
George Eich Institute · Strategic Prioritization
WHAT SHOULD YOUR COMPANY PRIORITIZE NOW?
Before increasing investment, roadmap scope, or complexity, discover which needs truly justify resources.
Which evidence shows that the priorities receiving resources address relevant customer needs? We help leadership connect those needs to customer value, business value, and investment decisions.
Needs belong to people.Business priorities improve when they begin with evidence from the people who experience those needs.
The Need Gap 2026The challenge is not finding needs. It is knowing which ones truly matter.
59companies in the consolidated sample
1,423needs taken to the quantitative stage
80.32%did not become a priority for even 30% of their respective customer bases
Articles and concepts
Articles on decisions and priorities.
The decision happens inside the company. The need exists outside it.
When Everything Competes for Priority
Different customers. Different needs. Limited resources.
Each area sees a legitimate part of reality. The problem begins when requests, opportunities, trends, and opinions start competing for resources as if they had the same strategic impact.
Customer
“Requests an improvement.”
Sales
“Sees an opportunity.”
Product
“Defends the roadmap.”
Leadership
“Must choose where to place the bet.”
The strategic question is not who is right. It is which needs justify changing the organization now.
8/10mapped needs do not become a priority for even 30% of customers.
What the Data Reveals
Listening to a need is the beginning. Deciding where to invest requires evidence.
The Need Gap 2026 brings together 1,423 needs that reached the quantitative stage in research conducted by 59 companies within their own customer bases.
The study reveals that the challenge is not finding needs, but distinguishing which ones are relevant enough to guide decisions capable of generating and capturing value.
Source: The Need Gap 2026. Analysis of 1,423 needs taken to quantitative validation across 59 companies. See the study for the research method.
From Evidence to Direction
What leadership needs to see before deciding.
The Institute does more than deliver data. It organizes evidence so leadership can distinguish what should be preserved, where there is room to expand value, and what should stay off the agenda.
02
Where to expand value
Recognize relevant needs that still create room for product, innovation, positioning, or expansion.
03
What not to fund
Prevent isolated requests and low-impact possibilities from becoming permanent complexity.
For Your Company
Strategic Prioritization Study. Evidence for a real decision.
Starting with a decision your company needs to make, we investigate customer needs qualitatively, validate their relevance quantitatively, and use ICAN to support executive interpretation. The result connects relevant needs to customer value and the business implications of each priority.
DiscoverQualitative investigation identifies needs and the context behind them.
ValidateQuantitative research and ICAN assess shared relevance across the customer base.
InterpretExecutive analysis identifies what to preserve, investigate, prioritize, or leave off the agenda.
Business Applications
When evidence changes the decision, the outcome changes with it.
International Expansion
A relevant need guided a market test outside Brazil.
The insight narrowed the hypothesis space and focused experimentation on a need with leverage potential.
8 countrieswith customers for the new solution within 60 days
Repositioning
The purchase driver was not the one the company was communicating.
The evidence led to a revision of positioning and commercial direction.
2×revenue over the observed 9-month period
Evous
ICP, roadmap, and investments were realigned with customer needs.
The company reduced dispersion and concentrated resources on priorities with stronger fit.
+245%ARR growth in the documented case
Who Leads the Work
George Eich
“Even perfect execution cannot correct a wrong priority.”
More than ten years ago, George founded CoBlue, a pioneer in OKRs in Latin America. Experience with hundreds of companies moved his work from execution to an earlier question: what truly deserves to be a priority? Today he develops Need-Based Decision Science and the ICAN metric.
500+companies advised
10+ yearsin strategy and execution
Quick Answers
The essentials of strategic prioritization.
What is the main finding of The Need Gap 2026?
Approximately 8 in 10 analyzed needs — 80.32% — did not become a priority for even 30% of participants in their respective studies. The result applies to the studied sample.
What is the Strategic Prioritization Study?
It is company-specific research that combines qualitative investigation, quantitative validation, ICAN, and executive interpretation to inform a real resource-allocation decision. It is distinct from The Need Gap 2026, the public consolidated study.
Does the Institute only deliver research?
No. The work connects research evidence to executive interpretation and implications for strategy, product, innovation, and positioning. Implementation and ongoing advisory work require a separate scope.
Data to discuss why companies can execute relentlessly and still prioritize the wrong things.
The Need Gap 2026 brings together evidence on relevance, concentration of priorities, and implications for strategy, product, and innovation.
What decision does your company need to make now?
Bring the decision, the alternatives under consideration, and your deadline. The Institute helps identify which evidence is missing before resources are committed.
Help me define our priorities