What to consider when deciding to prioritise work
What to consider when deciding to prioritise work
Decision quality is a critical factor in creating compelling software product experiences. Here are some factors to consider that can help frame decisions.
The evidence of poor decision-making in software product development is evident all around us. Poor quality in products endures, frustrates and ultimately drives users towards a competitor. Problems are left unresolved, products get more complex over time and alienate their userbase. Technology choices become inhibitors of competitiveness.
So what are some critical factors to keep in mind which could lift the quality of thinking and guard against common reasons for poor decisions?
Understand the problem
Are you leaning toward an option because it seems like it might fix an issue? Do you understand the problem well enough to make that call? What information would you need to be more confident?
It is incredible how often people commit to action without understanding the problem first.
Cultivate and consider the context
Sometimes you have an option to consider and part of what makes it compelling is that it appears to be being used very successfully in another organisation.
Is it really? Are we accounting for the fact that organisations share their practices motivated by factors such as talent attraction and maybe offering a rose-coloured view of the world?
Are we accounting for the fact that the context for another organisation (especially organisations that may be much larger or smaller than yours, in a different industry or marketplace, solving very different problems etc.) may be very different to yours?
Do you have adequate situational awareness of your organisation and its position on the playing field? If not, I would stay away from committing to significant changes which may be based on what others are doing.
Why would we do this?
Are we clear on what our logic is for setting this goal? Why it will help us fulfil our purpose or progress in our mission? Do we know how it connects to the bigger picture?
Why now?
You should be clear about why we are choosing to invest effort in this goal versus others competing for our focus.
Oriented to outcomes
Unsurprisingly, I advocate for understanding any decision within the context of the outcome or positive effects we are expecting to create for the business and the customers or other beneficiaries of the effort.
What are we trading off against if we invest in this direction?
There are always opportunities competing for your attention - why will we make this goal our focus?
Timeliness of decision
Its important, particularly for leaders, to make decisions in a timely manner. A quick ‘no’ can unblock your team to focus on something else.
Some decisions are timebound in nature. Do we understand the time constraints? Is there a point in time when this decision will be redundant due to things changing after a certain point in time?
What is the commitment we need to make?
Do we know what’s involved to provide a decent chance of success? Does the team(s) involved have what they need to succeed? Is there the process and resources available to address that should it prove not to be the case?
Do we know enough to commit to this now?
Do we have enough data to give us reasonable confidence? We don’t need all the data - analysis paralysis would be too far in the other direction. But we should ensure we’ve got our hands on all the attainable information and anything else we would need to have visibility on to ensure our efforts are not complete folly.
Understand what represents progress
When committing to a decision it is very helpful to understand what will represent real progress towards the goal.
How quickly could we learn we are on the right track?
What might we learn and how might we use that learning to make better decisions?
A meaningful step towards addressing your organisation’s purpose
Of all the opportunities in front of us - is this step a meaningful one towards fulfilling our organisation’s purpose? Is having achieved this an essential dependency to our long-term vision? Or is it a divergence that delays our progress towards where we are trying to get to?
I am quite certain this is not a complete list. I like to get drafts published and circulated for feedback and then come back to edit and consolidate knowledge in further edits to make this the most useful reference it can be.
What have I missed? What considerations do you have when you make a decision to commit to a goal? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments and be part of the conversation.