How to Prioritize Technical Work

Every feature proposal must answer three questions. Are we adding this because customers demand it or because competitors have it? Does this feature differentiate us or commoditize us? What's the real economic cost including three years of maintenance?

Apply the economic filter to everything costing more than a day of work. If five people work one day each, that's five days the company pays. Track the Sync Tax cost of each decision. A feature that costs $10K in direct work but $40K in Sync Tax may not be worth building.

The CEO owns this process. He sets the thresholds and approves the validation. If he can't justify a feature economically, it doesn't get built.