bad managers hate backlogs
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One of the most definite signs of poor leadership is the inability to decisively prioritize. I believe a key (perhaps, the key) to leadership is pointing people in the right direction and, when everything has the highest priority, all you have is a broken compass pointing everywhere.
I believe that, deep down, inability to prioritize is a sympton of cowardice. Real priorization requires the recognition of opportunity costs, requires saying no, requires living with the fear of missing out on the paths not taken.
And the simplest management tool is the backlog. Bad managers hate backlogs because no two items can have the same level of priority. The backlog forces them to make decisions.