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Interesting article but in my company the shifting priorities aren't ego driven, it's driven by the rapidly changing technical requirements of the company. Mayb

Interesting article but in my company the shifting priorities aren't ego driven, it's driven by the rapidly changing technical requirements of the company. Maybe at Google it was ego but at the startup I work at it's just pivoting to capture market share. A lot of my peers have trouble with this constant shift and I think that's ego. They are wrapped up in their own work and are ignorant of the company's priorities.

janejeon 3y ago
I mean also just adapting to rapidly changing environment and requirement is hard. It's a skill, just like anything else. Best not assign reason to why others have trouble doing a thing (not just this) based on our own experiences (referring to "that's ego" bit).
CharlieDigital 3y ago
> A lot of my peers have trouble with this constant shift and I think that's ego. They are wrapped up in their own work and are ignorant of the company's priorities. I'd say that it's not necessarily ego but perhaps one part coherency and one part skepticism. And it can often be exacerbated by lack of communication of those priorities and why they are shifting. If the previous strategy was validated, then why is the strategy shifting? Is the product design process fundamentally broken in the org? "If I dump my in progress work now, how long before my next effort gets short circuited?" Rapidly shifting priorities without clear reasoning raises questions on whether the leadership team knows what they are doing. In both cases, my own experience is that open dialog and communication from the leadership team on how the decision was made and sharing the data points can reduce the friction. From the technical leadership, communicating the right mindset also helps -- especially with more senior resources.
- happymellon 3y ago
  > Rapidly shifting priorities without clear reasoning raises questions on whether the leadership team knows what they are doing. It also leads to wasted work. What was the point of of working hard when it gets thrown away? If alternative views were expressed earlier then perhaps the work could have been made generic to handle both use cases in case of a pivot.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    Not just wasted work, but a general understanding that there's no point to working hard, when the work gets thrown away every time.
    - happymellon 3y ago
      That's a good rephrasing.
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  If priorities will change again before you get to ship the new project, you're better off not doing anything and getting ready for the next thing.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    Unless, of course, that thing will also be deprioritized, in which case you're better off not doing anything at all.

janejeon 3y ago

I mean also just adapting to rapidly changing environment and requirement is hard. It's a skill, just like anything else. Best not assign reason to why others have trouble doing a thing (not just this) based on our own experiences (referring to "that's ego" bit).

CharlieDigital 3y ago

> A lot of my peers have trouble with this constant shift and I think that's ego. They are wrapped up in their own work and are ignorant of the company's priorities. I'd say that it's not necessarily ego but perhaps one part coherency and one part skepticism. And it can often be exacerbated by lack of communication of those priorities and why they are shifting. If the previous strategy was validated, then why is the strategy shifting? Is the product design process fundamentally broken in the org? "If I dump my in progress work now, how long before my next effort gets short circuited?" Rapidly shifting priorities without clear reasoning raises questions on whether the leadership team knows what they are doing. In both cases, my own experience is that open dialog and communication from the leadership team on how the decision was made and sharing the data points can reduce the friction. From the technical leadership, communicating the right mindset also helps -- especially with more senior resources.

happymellon 3y ago
> Rapidly shifting priorities without clear reasoning raises questions on whether the leadership team knows what they are doing. It also leads to wasted work. What was the point of of working hard when it gets thrown away? If alternative views were expressed earlier then perhaps the work could have been made generic to handle both use cases in case of a pivot.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Not just wasted work, but a general understanding that there's no point to working hard, when the work gets thrown away every time.
  - happymellon 3y ago
    That's a good rephrasing.
datadrivenangel 3y ago
If priorities will change again before you get to ship the new project, you're better off not doing anything and getting ready for the next thing.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Unless, of course, that thing will also be deprioritized, in which case you're better off not doing anything at all.