Ruthless Prioritization

In today's hyper-paced tech environments, the pressure to deliver more can lead to burnout, fragmented focus, and subpar outcomes. This presentation explores the strategic mindset of Ruthless Prioritization—a disciplined, outcome-driven approach designed to help engineering and product teams focus relentlessly on what truly matters.

Presented by Ömer Korkmaz, Senior Software Engineer at Delivery Hero, this talk delves into why prioritization is not just a tactical skill, but a leadership enabler. You will gain clarity on:

-The cost of “too much” and how a lack of focus undermines product quality
-Common myths that sabotage prioritization culture
-When ruthless prioritization becomes essential (tight deadlines, pivots, scaling)
-Proven frameworks like ICE, RICE, and MoSCoW
-Practical ways to implement these principles in real-world contexts, specifically within billing systems

With a mix of frameworks, real-world applications, and cultural insights, this session equips teams to say "no" with purpose and "yes" with confidence. The goal is simple but transformative: deliver greater impact by doing less, better.

Transcript

1. Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Ruthless Prioritization ”doing less, achieving more” A strategic mindset for engineering and product excellence Ömer Korkmaz Senior Software Engineer @Delivery Hero, Billing
2. 2 Agenda What is Ruthless Prioritization? Why Prioritization Matters? 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 When and Why to Use It? How to Practice It Effectively? Frameworks & Real-World Cases How to Implement for Billing? Q&A
3. 3 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved The problem of too much!
4. 4 Delivery Hero. Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved If everything is a priority, nothing is Teams often get overwhelmed by competing tasks. Multitasking reduces quality and slows progress. Lack of focus leads to missed deadlines and burnout.
5. 5 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved It's not about doing more faster; it's about doing less better Ruthless Prioritization, a disciplined decision-making approach to relentlessly focus on what truly moves the needle and say NO to everything else What’s that?
6. 6 Why Use Ruthless Prioritization? Eliminate distractions and low-value work Focus on outcomes, not activities 01 02 03 Improve team morale and product quality
7. 7 Delivery Hero. Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Common Myths "We can do it all if we try harder" "Saying no means we're lazy" "More features = better product"
8. 8 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Focus creates excellence Presentation topic
9. 9 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Eligible when 02– High Uncertainty 01 – Tight Deadlines Time Restriction Resource Constraints 03 - Pivots Products or Architectural 04 - Scale Need Team or System Scale Demand So when?
10. 10 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved How to practice? > Team and business alignment > Same focus and motivation > Clarified scope Define Clear goals Let’s adapt! > Focus only on tasks that move the needle > Estimate cost honestly, not optimistically > Prioritize outcomes, not activity levels Ruthless Move > Protect time and attention > Say no, explain but respectfully > Use goals to justify decisions Say No! > Revisit priorities weekly or bi-weekly > Be open to shift when the context changes > Encourage team feedback to stay aligned Re-evaluate
11. 11 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Tools & Frameworks ICE & RCE & MoSCoW
12. 12 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved ICE Impact Confidence Effort Developed by Sean Ellis @GrowthHackers
13. 13 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Reach Impact Confidence Effort RICE Developed by Sean McBride @Intercom
14. 14 Delivery Hero Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Must Have Should Have Could Have Won’t Have MoSCoW Developed by Dai Clegg @Oracle
15. 15 Delivery Hero. Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved How to implement in Billing? Let’s dive into real Billing scenarios → Go to Miro
16. 16 1 3 Keep in mind! Doing less can achieve more, means less is more 2 Prioritization is a skill, not a sacrifice, means focus on outcomes Start small, scale smart, means aligns across teams and build what matters Teams and Dynamics Commitment NO SAY
17. 17 Delivery Hero. Proprietary & Confidential. 2025 All Rights Reserved Q&A Ask more, learn more!
18. THANK YOU! www.deliveryhero.com omer.korkmaz@deliveryhero.com