Thread by @johncutlefish

I wanted to share an amazingly useful idea I got from @johannarothman and her amazing book Manage It! (2007)

Initiatives have:
* Drivers
* Constraints
* Floats

Drivers ... what is "driving" the effort. Constraints constrain. And Floats are levers that you are free to move (1/5)

The basic idea is to minimize drivers, minimize constraints, increase floats. "Common sense!" OK...

"Take a trip. >7d, <14d. With the kid. Outdoor stuff. Some culture. Before he's 2. <$200 a day. Naps at 1pm. Peanut allergy. See Jane in London. Use miles. Time to relax." (2/5)

Crazy!

Yet we do this *all* the time with work efforts.

We want to keep two personas happy. Has to work on mobile. To show off at the conference. Must coordinate with the data engineering team. Grow X while growing Y. Oh...and navigate the global re-design." (3/5)

The trick -- because it is common sense in a way -- and something you only get with experience is really understanding the net effect of too many drivers and constraints, and no floats.

In the book >2 drivers, >2 constraints, <2 floats ... almost guaranteed to fail (4/5)

A product manager superpower is deeply, deeply understanding this. You need a radar for it. You need to catch yourself trying to "thread the needle" and play "3d chess".

The driver needs to be insanely (almost comically) focused (5/5)