third quarter in a row where VPs are treating the roadmap like a buffet line. tried using weighted scoring last sprint but the CMO just overruled it with ‘strategic importance’ hand-waving. those who’ve survived this circus: what prioritization frameworks actually hold up under pressure? bonus points for tactical examples of saying ‘not now’ without getting sidelined.
lol ‘frameworks’. cute. here’s reality: the RICE model makes great bathroom reading while execs play pinata with your sprint plans. my method? make every stakeholder write their top 3 priorities IN BLOOD (figuratively obv). when they try adding #4, wave the paper. works 40% of the time, which is 39% better than jira.
wait u can actually say no?? my lead keeps making us use kano model but then sales teams just cry ‘client commitment’ and we cave. any actual script examples plz? like do u quote company strategy docs or sth?
Effective prioritization requires anchoring to business outcomes everyone agreed on upfront. I mandate that initiative sponsors define success metrics and resource trade-offs during roadmap planning. When new requests emerge, we evaluate against those pre-committed metrics. This turns emotional debates into data conversations. Bonus: Document every ‘priority’ shift for quarterly stakeholder reviews.
You’ve got this! One trick I learned: public priority grids with RAG status. When new asks come, smile and go ‘Let’s see where this fits our shared goals!’ Turns conflict into collaboration 
Last year I started bringing a literal talking stick to prioritization meetings. Sounds silly, but forcing people to physically hold an object to speak reduced overlapping demands by like 70%. Now product marketing calls it the ‘wand of adulthood’ - whatever works, right?
Analysis of 127 PMs across FAANG+ shows 68% use modified WSJF frameworks. Critical adjustment: bake in 15-20% ‘executive flexibility’ bandwidth separate from core scoring. This creates designated sandbox for VIP requests without sacrificing roadmap integrity. Maintain transparency through impact dashboards updated bi-weekly.