> But how do you know what the management perception is of whiat is currently considered to be 'the right problem'
Ask! Literally. But also listen.
Many people in management will repeat over and over that feature X is the thing they wake up thinking about, even though feature Y is important to the PM or director or whatever. Especially if you’re young enough that promotions and performance reviewed are really important for career growth, work on X not Y.
If your manager doesn’t start every meeting with some passive remark that project X is consuming their time, ask them what is important. Ask them what project they’re worried about.
Example:
“Hey Boss, I’ve been working on ProjY, but I also have tasks from ProjX pulled into this sprint. Which one is a bigger priority for the team, because I have 10 days of tasks, but only 1 week left in the sprint?”
… “hi boss, a week ago you told me to prioritize finishing X and not Y. Should I just allocate all of this sprint to the next set of tasks for X?”
… “hi boss. It’s me again asking this question every week “
If you want a good performance review/promotion/etc, usually that starts with your direct manager, so do what they think is important and ignore the rest. You need their trust first, so get it by working on their priorities. With their trust, you can get flashier or more fun work, or you can get them to trust you when you suggest alternative priorities, and you can earn the gossip/news they hear in management meetings from up the chain.
Your corollary is just rage-bait FUD or dysfunctional behavior. Any you can’t control it anyways so ignore it and focus on what matters that you can control. If your CXO doesn’t like what you’re working on, but your manager does, pick your manager, they actually write your performance review.
Ask! Literally. But also listen.
Many people in management will repeat over and over that feature X is the thing they wake up thinking about, even though feature Y is important to the PM or director or whatever. Especially if you’re young enough that promotions and performance reviewed are really important for career growth, work on X not Y.
If your manager doesn’t start every meeting with some passive remark that project X is consuming their time, ask them what is important. Ask them what project they’re worried about.
Example:
“Hey Boss, I’ve been working on ProjY, but I also have tasks from ProjX pulled into this sprint. Which one is a bigger priority for the team, because I have 10 days of tasks, but only 1 week left in the sprint?”
… “hi boss, a week ago you told me to prioritize finishing X and not Y. Should I just allocate all of this sprint to the next set of tasks for X?”
… “hi boss. It’s me again asking this question every week “
If you want a good performance review/promotion/etc, usually that starts with your direct manager, so do what they think is important and ignore the rest. You need their trust first, so get it by working on their priorities. With their trust, you can get flashier or more fun work, or you can get them to trust you when you suggest alternative priorities, and you can earn the gossip/news they hear in management meetings from up the chain.
Your corollary is just rage-bait FUD or dysfunctional behavior. Any you can’t control it anyways so ignore it and focus on what matters that you can control. If your CXO doesn’t like what you’re working on, but your manager does, pick your manager, they actually write your performance review.