The Defense Business Board selects the areas in which it focuses its work based on specific criteria. The Board will develop recommendations on topics if such recommendations are deemed to be:

1. MATERIAL: The requested advice has the scale to materially change a Departmental outcome or process through the application of private sector best practices;
2. FORWARD-LOOKING: The expected advice addresses mid- or long-term Departmental initiatives and sets specific objectives with benchmarks/milestones for measuring progress across that timeframe;
3. ACTIONABLE: The scope of the expected advice falls within the decision/action space of the SEC;
4. STRATEGIC: The advice involves directional recommendations, broad policy/process objectives, and an action plan rather than detailed analysis or process design;
5. TIMELY: The expected output is early enough in the Departmental initiative/decision processes to materially influence change;
6. ENGAGING: The task provides an opportunity for the Board to stay engaged as a positive "catalyst" for progress in the area of recommended change;
7. VALUE-ADD: The work will require the collective judgements of multiple members employing experiences and skills not otherwise available to the Department's leadership;
8. CONCISE: Each of the expected recommendations will be concise enough to be delivered and discussed in a single SEC meeting;
9. CHAMPIONED: Each task has a government partner, or change agent/champion explicitly assigned to it.