The Alternative to Product Roadmaps

In this chapter, I explore an alternative to traditional product roadmaps, a topic that extends beyond just the roadmaps themselves. It touches on crucial aspects such as product culture, morale, empowerment, autonomy, and innovation. My goal is to lay the foundation here and provide more details in subsequent chapters.

The Purpose of Traditional Roadmaps

Before delving into the alternative, it's important to recognize why roadmaps have existed for so long. They serve two critical purposes:

1. Prioritization of High-Business-Value Items: Management uses roadmaps to ensure that teams are working on the highest-priority items first.

1. Tracking Date-Based Commitments: In running a business, there are cases where date-based commitments are necessary. Roadmaps help in tracking these commitments, even though in many companies, the trust in these dates is often low.

Any alternative to roadmaps must address these needs at least as well as current practices do.

The Empowered Product Team Model

In the empowered product team model that this book is based on, teams are equipped to determine the best ways to solve the business problems assigned to them. However, having strong people and modern tools and techniques isn't enough. Product teams need the necessary business context, a clear understanding of where the company is heading, and how their work contributes to the larger purpose.

Providing Business Context

For technology companies, two main components provide this business context:

1. Product Vision and Strategy:? This describes the overall goals of the organization and the plan to achieve them. Each product team may have its own areas of focus, but all efforts should align with the product vision.

1. Business Objectives: These are specific, prioritized objectives for each product team. The idea is to tell the team what needs to be accomplished and how the results will be measured, allowing them to determine the best way to solve the problems.

Example of Business Objectives

Consider a scenario where a product currently requires 30 days for a new customer to onboard, but management wants to reduce this to three hours to scale effectively. A business objective might be: "Dramatically reduce the time it takes for a new customer to go live." A measurable key result would be: "Average new customer onboarding time less than three hours."

Addressing the Two Drivers of Traditional Roadmaps

1. Prioritizing Business Results: In the new model, management provides product teams with specific business objectives rather than product ideas, focusing on business results rather than features.

1. High-Integrity Commitments: For situations requiring a date or specific deliverable commitment, high-integrity commitments are used. This approach ensures commitments are realistic and achievable.

Benefits of the New Approach

1. Increased Motivation: Teams are more motivated when they have the freedom to solve problems in the best way they see fit. They shift from being mercenaries to missionaries.

1. Accountability for Business Results: Teams are not off the hook by just delivering a requested feature. They need to ensure the feature solves the business problem, as measured by key results.

1. Embracing Iteration: This model acknowledges that initial approaches often don't work out and embraces the need for iteration.

Outcome-Based Roadmaps

Some product teams have adopted outcome-based roadmaps, where each item is stated as a business problem to solve rather than a specific feature or project. These are similar to using a business objective-based system like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). However, it's crucial not to impose deadlines on every item unless there is a true date constraint, as this can negatively impact team culture and motivation.

In conclusion, the alternative to traditional product roadmaps lies in focusing on business objectives and outcomes rather than specific features. By empowering product teams with the right context and autonomy, companies can achieve better alignment, innovation, and business results.