The most difficult engineering tasks aren't flashy UI features, but backend architectural changes. Refactoring a database schema to be more flexible is invisible to users but is crucial for long-term development speed and product scalability. Prioritizing this "boring" work is a key strategic decision.

To get buy-in for developer experience initiatives, don't use generic metrics. First, identify leadership's primary concerns—be it market share, profit margin, or velocity. Then, frame your measurements and impact using that specific language to ensure your work resonates.

Stakeholders will ask "so what?" if you only talk about developer efficiency. This is a weak argument that can get your funding cut. Instead, connect your platform's work directly to downstream business metrics like customer retention or product uptake that your developer-users are targeting.

To get buy-in from skeptical, business-focused stakeholders, avoid jargon about user needs. Instead, frame discovery as a method to protect the company's investment in the product team, ensuring you don't build things nobody uses and burn money. This aligns product work with financial prudence.

To get product management buy-in for technical initiatives like refactoring or scaling, engineering leadership is responsible for translating the work into clear business or customer value. Instead of just stating the technical need, explain how it enables faster feature development or access to a larger customer base.

To get executive buy-in for technical debt work, visually demonstrate how it blocks high-value future features. Present it as a choice: we can do this necessary refactor now, or we forfeit the ability to build the things that will make us money later.

To prevent engineers from focusing internally on technical purity (e.g., unnecessary refactoring), leaders must consistently frame all work in terms of its value to the customer. Even tech debt should be justified by its external impact, such as improving security or enabling future features.

Not all business problems are created equal. Time savings often translate to five-figure cost savings, which may not be compelling. The most powerful executive problems are "six-figure problems"—major risk mitigation (avoiding lawsuits), significant revenue generation, or replacing other large costs.

Creating products customers love is only half the battle. Product leaders must also demonstrate and clearly communicate the product's business impact. This ability to speak to financial outcomes is crucial for getting project approval and necessary budget.