Product Manager, it’s about time to learn to say “No!”

It can be extremely stressful when an authority figure, like a manager or CEO, comes to you with a bad idea. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝟴 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 “𝗡𝗼” 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆:

1) Force the CEO/manager into a discussion
Don’t just say “yes” or nod. If the CEO/manager wants you to do something, you need to do your due diligence. Having a conversation is the first reasonable step.

2) Ask for the reasoning
You need to understand what user/business problem does CEO/manager want to solve. Perhaps you can offer a better alternative? Or at least understand that the request is not that stupid from a wider perspective.

3) Ask for data
To have the request added as a task to the backlog, you need data to allow prioritization and to estimate the impact hypothesis. If the figure of authority gave you the request, perhaps it comes with some handy data. You wouldn’t act on an opinion, now would you?

4) Ask for time
If there is no data and no good reason, you will need time to look into this. Anything stupid on the surface can be a hidden gem (say the original premise of Twitter: Who would want to run a microblog with only 160 chars to work with?) and you need time to evaluate.