As product folks, we are asked to drive value and in order to do this we need to be somewhat ruthless about what we do, and consequently what we do not do. I always refer to this as ‘ruthless prioritization’ but it’s not quite as antagonistic as it sounds.
Why does it feel ruthless?
I want to address why it often feels ruthless or downright “icky” for us to prioritize work this way:
- You are saying no, possibly a lot: you might feel like a killjoy as you constantly re-focus your peers on the less fun stuff that you might need to achieve. Or, this could lead to difficult conversations and/or escalations (depending on the type of company you work at).
- You are ignoring known customer or operational pain points: this one took me a while to overcome; you know your customer, you empathize with your customer and so when you see something wrong, you desperately want to fix it. In this case, you can’t — and that’s okay, you will run yourself ragged if you aim for perfection.
What does it mean to be ruthless?
While being ruthless is associated with not showing compassion, I’d argue that in this case, it’s about taking the passion out of it for a second. Continue reading “Ruthless Prioritization”