The Art of Saying No: Prioritization as an Engineering Leader

Saying “yes” feels great—new features, urgent fixes, and the latest shiny framework everyone’s buzzing about. But as an engineering leader, your most powerful tool is the ability to say “no.” This isn’t about gatekeeping; it’s about protecting your team’s focus, maintaining sanity, and keeping the ship on course.

I learned this the hard way: one impulsive “yes” to a last-minute API tweak derailed an entire sprint, led to 40 hours of rework, and left the team frustrated.

Prioritization Starts with Clarity

Every request—whether from product, sales, or your own developers—needs a solid “why.” Ask yourself:

Does it drive revenue?

Does it fix a critical user pain point?

Does it improve system stability?

If the answer is “nice to have” rather than a necessity, it’s a “not now.”

To stay objective, I run a quick backlog audit weekly, scoring tasks by impact (1-10) and effort (hours).

A 10-hour fix with a 2-point impact? Pass.

A 5-hour fix that saves 20 hours per month? Green light.

Automating Prioritization

To streamline this process, I hacked together a simple Python script that calculates task scores:

tasks = [
{"name": "API tweak", "impact": 2, "effort": 10},
{"name": "DB index", "impact": 8, "effort": 5}
]

for task in tasks:
score = task["impact"] / task["effort"]
print(f"{task['name']}: Score = {score:.2f} {'✓' if score > 1 else '✗'}")

Output:

API tweak: Score = 0.20 ✗
DB index: Score = 1.60 ✓

Communication is Key

A blunt “no” can sting, so framing matters. Instead of shutting down requests outright, connect them to strategic priorities:

Instead of: “We’re not doing this.”

Try: “We’re holding off on X to focus on Y, which will cut latency by 30%.”

This approach keeps stakeholders aligned and the team focused. Pushback will happen, but tying “no” to a shared win helps maintain trust and momentum.

Mastering this skill turns an overwhelming flood of requests into a steady, strategic stream of progress.