…unilaterally. Instead, teams should negotiate.

Negotiation is hard. Negotiation requires humility. Negotiation takes time.

But it leaves people heard, solves complicated issues, and leads to better results.

If your team never negotiates, you are unknowingly building a tower of tech/product/monetary/goodwill debt that will crack a kneecap if never paid.

Everything is related, even when it isn’t obvious. Engineering direction affects the product and product direction affects engineering. Cross-functionality is a description of reality, not an opt-in approach.

Seek diverse opinions often and early. Invite “non-designers” to review early designs and include “non-engineers” in discussions about dealing with legacy code. Anyone can join a sales call.

Building anything requires a foundation of empathy.