6 ms·

Prioritize Through Purpose

43 points by shehjar 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
shehjar 2y ago
Prioritization conflicts are exactly the situations when Product Managers must step away from traditionally accepted management tools and frameworks and look deeper into Purpose.
lo_zamoyski 2y ago
Well, yes, telos is the basis of value and the good. It is the only objective basis for ethics and morality. What is good is always judged in relation to an end which determines the norm. For human beings, the objective telos inherent to human nature is what determines what a good human being is like, and what a good action is, etc. As a result, our actions are either for the sake of this good as determined by human nature, or deviate from it. Ask what the ultimate end of human beings is and you will begin to put your life in order. A failure to do so means you serve some other end, perhaps one you do not realize you are serving.
- gala8y 2y ago
  > A failure to do so means you serve some other end, perhaps one you do not realize you are serving. What do you mean here?
  - leansensei 2y ago
    If you do not serve your own priorities, then you are serving someone else's, and you might not even be aware of what you actually serve.
    - lo_zamoyski 2y ago
      Possibly that can be the case, yes, but more generally, we often pursue ends without realizing what they are. They may be in accord with our inherent telos, or they may depart from it.
- keiferski 2y ago
  The problem with this, and with Aristotle-esque ways of defining “ultimate ends”, is that they are from a world before evolution was understood in any real sense. Because once you realize that “human” is a label describing a point of time in the development of a constantly changing organism, it becomes difficult or impossible to determine exactly what “human nature” is in the first place. This problem is a more fundamental one and it’s only going to get more complex as genetic engineering, cyborgization, etc. continue to develop. In general I think it’s more fruitful to find purpose in change, even if that means singular fleeting moments, for example, mono no aware in Japanese aesthetics. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/#MonoNoAwarPathThin https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/#Mono...
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - brightball 2y ago
    > it becomes difficult or impossible to determine exactly what “human nature” is in the first place. I understand the perspective and the rationale is certainly sound on a long timeline (millions of years), but on the timeline of known human history and civilization "human nature" can be observed and defined much more easily. Even reading the Old Testament and other very old books that give us a picture into a range of a few thousand years, it becomes clear that human nature has not changed in at least that time period. Because of that, observing human nature within the range of a few millennia is perfectly reasonable. If evolution turns us into something else, then Human 2.0 Nature will become a thing.
    - keiferski 2y ago
      But that's only if you take a very narrow definition of what "human" is. I think a better definition wouldn't be as limited on the specific isolated organism, but rather on the organism within its environment – and that includes society as well as the actual physical environment. Nature/biology isn't very exclusionary and a lot of things are better looked at as ecosystems. From that perspective, the "human" has definitely changed since a few thousand years ago.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
shehjar 2y ago
In case theres further interest in reading about Purpose as a way to bring immense motivation and clarity, please see Deep Purpose by Ranjay Gulati(HBS Professor)
android521 2y ago
Well, The Goal book which is recommended by Mr Beast perfectly address this issue of prioritization. First, you need to clearly define your goal and then you need to identify and address the biggest bottleneck and all other features/problems must give way to this problem first. After you address the biggest bottleneck, you will find another bottleneck , you repeat the process.
- kranner 2y ago
  Gabriele Oettingen's WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacles, Plans) technique [1] is pretty much the same thing. Her book on the topic Rethinking Positive Thinking was published in the same year as The Goal book. (I haven't read the latter admittedly) [1] https://mindfulambition.net/woop/ https://mindfulambition.net/woop/
  - infecto 2y ago
    Is it possible that you are off by a few decades? I believe The Goal is 1984 and her book was 2014?
    - kranner 2y ago
      You're right, my mistake.
- halfcat 2y ago
  The Goal audio book is included in Spotify premium. It’s surprisingly well done, in that it’s more like audio theatre with different voice actors, sound effects, and so on, as opposed to a single voice actor doing different characters.
svilen_dobrev 2y ago
maybe related (but further into the process of making stuff): impact-vs-backlog https://web.archive.org/web/20200606231402/https://www.svese.de/impact-vs-backlog-frame-in-software-development https://web.archive.org/web/20200606231402/https://www.svese...

43 points by shehjar 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Prioritization conflicts are exactly the situations when Product Managers must step away from traditionally accepted management tools and frameworks and look deeper into Purpose.

lo_zamoyski 2y ago

Well, yes, telos is the basis of value and the good. It is the only objective basis for ethics and morality. What is good is always judged in relation to an end which determines the norm. For human beings, the objective telos inherent to human nature is what determines what a good human being is like, and what a good action is, etc. As a result, our actions are either for the sake of this good as determined by human nature, or deviate from it. Ask what the ultimate end of human beings is and you will begin to put your life in order. A failure to do so means you serve some other end, perhaps one you do not realize you are serving.

gala8y 2y ago
> A failure to do so means you serve some other end, perhaps one you do not realize you are serving. What do you mean here?
- leansensei 2y ago
  If you do not serve your own priorities, then you are serving someone else's, and you might not even be aware of what you actually serve.
  - lo_zamoyski 2y ago
    Possibly that can be the case, yes, but more generally, we often pursue ends without realizing what they are. They may be in accord with our inherent telos, or they may depart from it.
keiferski 2y ago
The problem with this, and with Aristotle-esque ways of defining “ultimate ends”, is that they are from a world before evolution was understood in any real sense. Because once you realize that “human” is a label describing a point of time in the development of a constantly changing organism, it becomes difficult or impossible to determine exactly what “human nature” is in the first place. This problem is a more fundamental one and it’s only going to get more complex as genetic engineering, cyborgization, etc. continue to develop. In general I think it’s more fruitful to find purpose in change, even if that means singular fleeting moments, for example, mono no aware in Japanese aesthetics. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/#MonoNoAwarPathThin https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/#Mono...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- brightball 2y ago
  > it becomes difficult or impossible to determine exactly what “human nature” is in the first place. I understand the perspective and the rationale is certainly sound on a long timeline (millions of years), but on the timeline of known human history and civilization "human nature" can be observed and defined much more easily. Even reading the Old Testament and other very old books that give us a picture into a range of a few thousand years, it becomes clear that human nature has not changed in at least that time period. Because of that, observing human nature within the range of a few millennia is perfectly reasonable. If evolution turns us into something else, then Human 2.0 Nature will become a thing.
  - keiferski 2y ago
    But that's only if you take a very narrow definition of what "human" is. I think a better definition wouldn't be as limited on the specific isolated organism, but rather on the organism within its environment – and that includes society as well as the actual physical environment. Nature/biology isn't very exclusionary and a lot of things are better looked at as ecosystems. From that perspective, the "human" has definitely changed since a few thousand years ago.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

shehjar 2y ago

In case theres further interest in reading about Purpose as a way to bring immense motivation and clarity, please see Deep Purpose by Ranjay Gulati(HBS Professor)

android521 2y ago

Well, The Goal book which is recommended by Mr Beast perfectly address this issue of prioritization. First, you need to clearly define your goal and then you need to identify and address the biggest bottleneck and all other features/problems must give way to this problem first. After you address the biggest bottleneck, you will find another bottleneck , you repeat the process.

kranner 2y ago
Gabriele Oettingen's WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacles, Plans) technique [1] is pretty much the same thing. Her book on the topic Rethinking Positive Thinking was published in the same year as The Goal book. (I haven't read the latter admittedly) [1] https://mindfulambition.net/woop/ https://mindfulambition.net/woop/
- infecto 2y ago
  Is it possible that you are off by a few decades? I believe The Goal is 1984 and her book was 2014?
  - kranner 2y ago
    You're right, my mistake.
halfcat 2y ago
The Goal audio book is included in Spotify premium. It’s surprisingly well done, in that it’s more like audio theatre with different voice actors, sound effects, and so on, as opposed to a single voice actor doing different characters.

svilen_dobrev 2y ago

maybe related (but further into the process of making stuff): impact-vs-backlog https://web.archive.org/web/20200606231402/https://www.svese.de/impact-vs-backlog-frame-in-software-development https://web.archive.org/web/20200606231402/https://www.svese...