Role Switch

Table of Contents

1. Workflow
2. Role Selection Patterns
3. Synthesis Principles
4. Common Patterns
5. Guardrails
6. Quick Reference

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

Role Switch Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Frame the decision or situation
- [ ] Step 2: Select relevant roles
- [ ] Step 3: Inhabit each role's perspective
- [ ] Step 4: Surface tensions and tradeoffs
- [ ] Step 5: Synthesize alignment and path forward

Step 1: Frame the decision or situation

Clarify what's being decided, key constraints (time, budget, scope), and why alignment matters. See Common Patterns for decision framing by type.

Step 2: Select relevant roles

Choose 3-6 roles with different goals, incentives, or constraints. See Role Selection Patterns for stakeholder mapping. For complex multi-stakeholder decisions → Study resources/methodology.md for RACI + power-interest analysis.

Step 3: Inhabit each role's perspective

For each role, articulate: what they optimize for, what they fear, how they measure success, what constraints they face. Use resources/template.md for structured analysis. For realistic roleplay → See resources/methodology.md for cognitive empathy techniques.

Step 4: Surface tensions and tradeoffs

Identify where perspectives conflict, map incompatible goals, articulate explicit tradeoffs. See Synthesis Principles for tension analysis.

Step 5: Synthesize alignment and path forward

Find common ground, propose resolutions that address core concerns, sequence decisions to build momentum. Self-check using resources/evaluators/rubric_role_switch.json. Minimum standard: Average score ≥ 3.5.

Role Selection Patterns

Classic product triad (most common):

• Engineering: Feasibility, technical debt, system complexity, maintainability
• Product: User value, roadmap prioritization, market timing, feature completeness
• Design: User experience, accessibility, consistency, delight

Business decision quads:

• Finance: Cost, ROI, cash flow, unit economics, margin
• Sales: Customer acquisition, deal closure, competitive positioning, quota attainment
• Marketing: Brand perception, customer lifetime value, positioning, conversion funnel
• Operations: Scalability, process efficiency, risk management, resource utilization

Regulatory/compliance contexts:

• Legal: Risk mitigation, liability, contract terms, IP protection
• Compliance: Regulatory adherence, audit trail, policy enforcement, certification
• Privacy/Security: Data protection, threat model, access control, incident response
• Ethics: Fairness, transparency, stakeholder impact, values alignment

External stakeholders:

• End Users: Usability, reliability, cost, privacy, delight
• Customers (B2B): Integration ease, support quality, vendor stability, total cost of ownership
• Partners: Revenue share, mutual value, integration burden, strategic alignment
• Regulators: Public interest, safety, competition, transparency

Synthesis Principles

Finding common ground:

1. Shared goals: What do all roles ultimately want? (e.g., company success, customer satisfaction)
2. Compatible sub-goals: Where do objectives align even if paths differ?
3. Mutual fears: What do all roles want to avoid? (e.g., reputational damage, security breach)

Resolving conflicts:

• Sequential decisions: "Do X first (satisfies role A), then Y (satisfies role B)" (e.g., pilot then scale)
• Hybrid approaches: Combine elements from multiple perspectives (e.g., freemium = marketing + finance)
• Constraints as creativity: Use one role's limits to sharpen another's solution (e.g., budget constraint forces prioritization)
• Risk mitigation: Address fears with safeguards (e.g., eng fears tech debt → schedule refactoring sprint)

When perspectives are truly incompatible:

• Escalate decision: Flag for leadership with clear tradeoff framing
• Run experiment: Pilot to gather data, convert opinions to evidence
• Decouple decisions: Split into multiple decisions with different owners
• Accept tradeoff explicitly: Document the choice and reasoning for future reference

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Build vs Buy Decisions

• Roles: Engineering (control, customization), Finance (TCO), Product (time-to-market), Legal (vendor risk), Operations (support burden)
• Typical tensions: Eng wants control, Finance sees build cost underestimation, PM sees opportunity cost of delay
• Synthesis paths: Pilot buy option with build fallback, build core/buy periphery, time-box build with buy backstop

Pattern 2: Feature Prioritization

• Roles: PM (roadmap vision), Engineering (technical feasibility), Design (UX quality), Sales (customer requests), Users (actual need)
• Typical tensions: Sales wants everything promised, Eng sees scope creep, Users want simplicity, PM balances all
• Synthesis paths: MoSCoW prioritization (must/should/could/won't), release in phases, v1 vs v2 scoping

Pattern 3: Pricing Strategy

• Roles: Finance (margin), Marketing (positioning), Sales (close rate), Customers (value perception), Product (feature gating)
• Typical tensions: Finance wants premium, Sales wants competitive, Marketing wants simple, Product wants value-based tiers
• Synthesis paths: Tiered pricing (serves multiple segments), usage-based (aligns value), anchoring (premium + standard)

Pattern 4: Organizational Change (e.g., return-to-office)

• Roles: Leadership (collaboration), Employees (flexibility), HR (retention), Finance (real estate cost), Managers (productivity)
• Typical tensions: Leadership sees serendipity loss, Employees see autonomy loss, Finance sees sunk cost, HR sees turnover
• Synthesis paths: Hybrid model (balance), role-based policy (nuance), trial periods (data-driven), opt-in incentives (voluntary)

Pattern 5: Technical Migration

• Roles: Engineering (technical improvement), PM (feature freeze), Users (potential downtime), DevOps (operational risk), Finance (ROI)
• Typical tensions: Eng sees long-term benefit, PM sees short-term cost, Users fear disruption, Finance wants ROI proof
• Synthesis paths: Incremental migration (reduce risk), feature parity first (minimize disruption), ROI projection (justify investment)

Guardrails

Avoid strawman perspectives:

• Don't caricature roles (e.g., "Finance only cares about cost cutting")
• Inhabit perspective charitably—what's the strongest version of this viewpoint?
• Seek conflicting evidence to your own bias

Distinguish position from interest:

• Position: What they say they want (surface demand)
• Interest: Why they want it (underlying need)
• Example: "I want this feature" (position) because "customers are churning" (interest = retention)
• Synthesis works at interest level, not position level

Acknowledge information asymmetry:

• Some roles have context others lack (e.g., Legal sees confidential liability exposure)
• Flag assumptions: "If Legal has info we don't, that could change this analysis"
• Invite real stakeholders to validate your perspective-taking

Don't replace actual stakeholder input:

• Role-switch is for preparing conversations, not replacing them
• Use to pressure-test before presenting, not as substitute for gathering input
• Best used when stakeholder access is limited or to refine proposals before socializing

Power dynamics matter:

• Not all perspectives carry equal weight in decision-making (hierarchy, expertise, accountability)
• Synthesis should acknowledge who has decision authority
• Don't assume consensus is always possible or desirable

Quick Reference

Resources:

• Quick analysis: resources/template.md
• Complex stakeholder mapping: resources/methodology.md
• Quality rubric: resources/evaluators/rubric_role_switch.json

5-Step Process: Frame Decision → Select Roles → Inhabit Perspectives → Surface Tensions → Synthesize Alignment

Role selection: Choose 3-6 roles with different goals, incentives, constraints

Synthesis principles: Find shared goals, resolve conflicts (sequential, hybrid, constraints as creativity), escalate when incompatible

Avoid: Strawman perspectives, position vs interest confusion, replacing actual stakeholder input