The hardest part of product management is saying no.
Your backlog is filled with great ideas. Your customers want everything. Your sales team wants even more.
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If you try to do it all you will accomplish nothing. You will ship a bloated product that satisfies no one.
The secret weapon of a highly effective roadmap is the "Not Now" list.
Saying "Not Now" is entirely different than saying a flat "No." It acknowledges a good idea but aggressively protects your current focus. It tells your stakeholders that you hear them but your engineering capacity is reserved for your top priorities.
A focused roadmap requires the courage to defer good ideas for extraordinary ones.
What is the most critical item on your "Not Now" list today?
What should I write about next?
I want these notes to focus on the challenges you're actually facing. If there's a stakeholder management or roadmapping problem you're wrestling with this week, hit reply and let me know.