How I Prioritise
Every framework promises clarity. After testing RICE, MoSCoW, and weighted scoring across five teams, I landed on something simpler.
Every framework promises clarity. After testing RICE, MoSCoW, and weighted scoring across five teams, I landed on something simpler. Here’s the system that survived contact with reality.
The problem with frameworks
Most prioritisation frameworks look great in a blog post and fall apart in a meeting room. RICE needs numbers nobody has. MoSCoW turns into a negotiation where everything is a “must.” Weighted scoring becomes a spreadsheet nobody opens after the first sprint.
What actually works
After years of trying, I’ve settled on a system with three questions:
- What’s the cost of not doing this? — Not the opportunity cost. The actual cost. Revenue lost, users churning, team morale dropping.
- How confident are we? — Not in the solution, but in the problem. Do we actually know this is real?
- What’s the smallest version? — Can we learn something in a week instead of building for a quarter?
The weekly ritual
Every Monday, the team looks at these three questions for everything in the backlog. Things sort themselves surprisingly fast when you frame it this way.