The Art of Saying No: Strategic Prioritization and Stakeholder Boundaries

In this episode of The Product Handbook, we explore one of the hardest — and most powerful — skills in product management: saying no without losing trust.

You’ll learn:

• Why saying no is a strategic move, not a personality flaw
• How to use prioritization frameworks like RICE and MoSCoW to justify trade-offs and focus your team
• Tactics for communicating tough decisions with clarity, empathy, and data
• How to push back on feature requests without derailing relationships or momentum

If you’ve ever struggled to protect your roadmap from the chaos of competing opinions — or hesitated to say no because it felt too risky — this episode gives you the tools to stay focused and strategic while keeping your stakeholders on side.