In a recent LinkedIn post, Janna Bastow discusses a common pain point for product development teams: the struggle with effective backlog prioritization. Bastow, CEO of ProdPad, argues that the fundamental issue often lies not in the prioritization method itself, but in the underlying structure of the backlog.
The Flaw in Comparing Disparate Ideas
Bastow highlights the absurdity of treating vastly different types of work as equals within a single backlog. She points out that an idea can range from a significant strategic decision to a minor feature request. When these are presented at the same level, the prioritization process inevitably becomes subjective and political rather than data-driven.
“An idea can be anything from ‘should we replace our payment system’ through to ‘could you add this button to this page.'”
According to Bastow, this lack of distinction leads to flawed comparisons. She likens the situation to trying to prioritize military aircraft carriers alongside appetizers, a comparison that is inherently unbalanced.
“When both sit in the same backlog as peer-level items, prioritization becomes a political exercise instead of a strategic one. You’re comparing aircraft carriers to appetizers and wondering why the process feels broken.”
A Structural Problem, Not a Process One
The core of Bastow’s argument is that the problem is structural. Most backlogs, she contends, lack the necessary hierarchy to differentiate between strategic initiatives and tactical tasks. This absence of structure means that even sophisticated scoring frameworks can’t salvage a prioritization process built on fundamentally mismatched comparisons.
The Illusion of a Fixable Process
Bastow suggests that teams often attempt to fix prioritization issues by implementing new scoring models or frameworks. However, she argues that this is a misdiagnosis.
“The problem is structural. Most backlogs lack hierarchy. And no scoring framework can fix a comparison that was never valid to begin with.”
In her view, the perceived failure of prioritization is frequently a symptom of a deeper architectural or structural problem within how product ideas are organized and presented. Bastow emphasizes that a healthy backlog requires a clear hierarchy that distinguishes between different types of work, from large strategic bets to smaller, incremental improvements. Without this foundational structure, any attempt to prioritize becomes an exercise in managing perceptions rather than making strategic decisions about where to invest resources.
Bastow’s insights underscore the importance of how product backlogs are organized, suggesting that teams should focus on creating a hierarchical structure before attempting to optimize their prioritization methods. This approach, she implies, is key to moving from a political prioritization process to a truly strategic one.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Janna Bastow on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on April 30, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →