How to identify the right tradeoffs?

Tradeoffs don’t have to be all or nothing. They exist in virtually all decisions because real life resources and time are not unlimited. Here’re 3 considerations to identify the right tradeoffs:

1. What you want vs. what you need. Don’t confuse them – the former almost always exceeds what’s minimally viable to bring business value and to control risk.
2. What you feel like doing vs. what most likely achieves the desired outcome. An objective look at the benefits and costs requires data + insights. When they’re unavailable, human intuition serves as a powerful compass.
3. What you can tolerate vs. what you can defend with honor. Document the decisions and the why so you can monitor, evaluate, and reflect on the tradeoffs that you identified.

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