JudgmentSignals

Requests and Boundaries

The Vague Ask

  1. Situation
  2. Decision
  3. Confidence
  4. Consequence
  5. Feedback

Stage 1 · The request lands

A Product partner pings you an hour before standup: “Hey — could you give us just a little help on the launch issue? Shouldn't be much. You're the only one who really gets this part.” There's no ticket, no scope, and a launch this week.

What's at stake

Say yes loosely and you may absorb open-ended work that displaces your committed sprint. Say no flatly and you look unhelpful on a launch that matters to your partner.

StakeholdersProductEngineeringLeadership
Standup in 60 minutes; launch later this week