Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Point Play
Johanna Rothman, known as the "Pragmatic Manager," offers frank advice for your challenging problems. She consults with leaders and teams to help them learn about practical and possible options. They can then decide how to adapt their product development. Her most recent book is "Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility." See www.jrothman.com for all her books.
With effective project portfolio management, everyone knows which project is No. 1, which is No. 2 and so on down the line. You commit to those projects in order by making sure they have teams that can do the work required and that the projects have the other resources they need before you re-evaluate the project portfolio again down the line.
But sometimes, it feels as if those of you on a leadership team--the people making the portfolio decisions--really can’t decide between two projects. You’ve discussed the benefits of each project until you’re talked out, and you still can’t decide. Agility means options. In this article, I will outline several options to help you decide how to rank with points, how to try an iteration for each project--and why you should alternate iterations to see where the “Gotchas!” are in each project.
Use Points For Your Ranking Method
You may have tried to discuss the relative merits of each project or compared them against each other. Often, that works. But more often, it’s still difficult to decide which project is first, which is second and so on. That’s when it’s worth using points as your ranking method for projects. Points help you see the relative business value and ignite discussion about the relative value of each project.
You may have tried to discuss the relative merits of each project or compared them against each other. Often, that works. But more often, it’s still difficult to decide which project is first, which is second and so on. That’s when it’s worth using points as your ranking method for projects. Points help you see the relative business value and ignite discussion about the relative value of each project.
When you rank with points, you’re separating business …
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