“Portfolio management is the art and science of making decisions about investment mix and policy, matching investments to objectives, asset allocation for individuals and institutions, and balancing risk against performance.” – Investopedia

How do you manage your backlog?  The strategists at the top are often accustomed to trusting their gut, while the engineers below insist on absolute scientific certainty.  Handing priorities down that game of telephone is a circus side-show of bull whip effect and sociopolitical contract theory.

Not that it doesn’t work out just fine….

Meanwhile, accountants and financial analysts, with the help of algorithms, benchmarking, and actuaries, have been tracking the present value of an asset, mid-investment, with all risks taken into account for a VERY LONG TIME.

The real question is, do you need all that certainty?  Should you be focusing on human interaction and the existential plight more?  I guess that’s a separate discussion…

I mean, at one extreme, do you care about your customers so much that you feel an ethical duty to fix every little bug no matter how much it costs you, your employees, and the families they feed?

At the other extreme, do you love churning out features so much you don’t care how many of those features aren’t wanted or how unsustainable your product has become?

No, I assume neither of those are you (I hope).  Instead, you are trying desperately to strike a sensible balance that lets you sleep at night while feeling good you pleased a small group with their favorite feature.  You’re really in the business of political and emotional backlog prioritization.

I want to let you know that I’m okay with that.  Relationships and society and worth building.  That said, when you are the bridge between the c-suite and several thousand staff member salaries, you may want to find ways to think harder about whether or not you are building the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.

Thus, I will give you some science on backlog prioritization, but I wanted to let you know that I completely understand where you are with your current methods.