Prioritize until it hurts

They say prioritize until it hurts.

How does it hurt?

You need to pick favorites between your users. Are you going to care more about Abbey who runs the mom-and-pop shop, or Dwight the CMO of large enterprise?

You need to dissolve the dream. Wouldn’t the product be amazing if we could do X, and Y and Z, and then we’ll deliver it on a silver platter? Yes it would be. But reality and past experiences says you can’t, at least not within the time frame you want. The dream is an illusion.

You need to pare down to what really makes an impact to your customer. Chuck out the less important things from your lifeboat so it can stay afloat. That pet feature you so loved but weighs a ton? That user request you’ve been dying to work on but only a handful of clients need? Strike it from the list.

For the things that really matter, you need to be like a dog on the hunt. Daily updates. Constant viligence. Jump over or dash around the obstacles. No excuses.

At the heart of prioritization is the treasure of greatest value: doing your best for the people you believe matter the most.

Say no to everything else so you can say yes to those people.