Saying No to a Feature, Keeping the Friendship

My teammate asked for a new feature today.

She was excited about it.

I said, 'I love the thinking behind this.'

Then I explained our current focus.

I said, 'Right now our focus is speed.'

So I asked, 'Can we revisit it next quarter?'

She looked a little sad at first.

But she understood my reason.

We talked about other small ideas.

I thanked her for sharing.

She smiled before we left.

No felt hard, but we stayed close.