Without a Compelling Product Vision, Teams Become Feature Factories

Lacking clear direction, teams will act like dogs chasing their?tails

For many years I struggled with prioritization. Multiple stakeholders wanted their wishes to come true. Many used their power of influence to get a slice of the cake. The C-Suite directed teams with their best guesses. Unfortunately, this story never has a pretty ending. On the contrary, it’s an endless fight based on perceptions and opinions, which leads nowhere but to disaster.

All companies I joined had a different approach to prioritization. Yet, we lacked direction. The results were very similar. We built dozens of useless features. We continuously missed our purpose because we lacked focus.

Without a clear direction, teams are like dogs chasing their tails.

One simple statement can dramatically change this dreadful scenario. However, many teams ignore it. They fall into the build trap pitfall. It’s a deadly loop: prioritize, build, and ship. But don’t panic. A Compelling Product Vision can put us on a successful path. We have a way out of this nightmare.

Why Do Teams Ignore The Product?Vision?

It’s easier to say yes than no. Without conflicts, we cannot define a crystal clear direction. People have different opinions and perspectives. To focus on what matters the most, we have to be ready to face criticism.

It’s impossible to please everyone. But many companies prefer to avoid conflict. Instead of crafting a Product Vision and saying “No” to unrelated ideas, most keep trying to please everyone. This scenario is an easy path to failure. Could you not take it?

“If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream” — Steve?Jobs

The Scrum framework doesn’t have any direct mention of the Product Vision. But it mentions that the increment is a step toward a vision or goal. Yet, it doesn’t give any details of how the vision or goal should be.

The Importance of Product Management

The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value; that’s how the Scrum Guide defines this role. But how this happens will vary widely. In other words, have fun, my friend. You’re on your own.

I love working with Scrum. It’s a simple and robust framework. Teams become more collaborative, and the work becomes smoother. But Scrum mainly focuses on the team and the execution. It is impossible to be successful with Scrum alone. A Product Owner cannot succeed without a sound knowledge of Product Management.

When I had my first contact with Scrum, I didn’t believe teams could thrive only by doing Scrum. I think I was right. Scrum is not enough to build successful products. We need to connect to more disciplines. Scrum creates the space for great things to happen, but you’ve got the right ingredients for it.

Another complex part to me is the Product Owner. Scrum puts much pressure on this role. This person is responsible for setting a direction for Scrum teams to maximize the value. Thus, knowledge and experience in the field of Product Management are vital. Without that, the Product Owner will achieve ordinary results at best.

Product Owner is a role you play on a Scrum team. Product Manager is the job.

If you take your Scrum team away, if you take Scrum away as a process for your organization, you are still a Product Manager. Product Management and Scrum work together well, but Product Management is not dependent on Scrum. It can and should exist with any framework or process.— Melissa Perri, Product Manager vs Product Owner

From my experience, many Product Owners fail to set a Product Vision due to a lack of Product Management expertise. In this case, I included myself. I often could not craft a Product Vision, which led teams to build useless features. After failing, I learned. Now, I cannot see myself working without a Product Vision.

The Absence of Product Vision Transforms Teams in Feature Factories

In 2017, I was part of an e-commerce company. One specific event always annoyed me — the quarterly roadmap planning. I felt like we were running in circles. Everything was about perceptions and wishes. Something was missing. We forgot to align with a long-term vision, which we didn’t have.

We prioritized improving the product detail page, search, and referral program during our roadmap discussions. They had no connection to each other. Worse than that, we defined the roadmap based on the best guesses of the executives. We focused on outputs instead of outcomes.

Until we have a compelling Product Vision, everything is arguably a priority. Yet, disaster is inevitably on the way.

The Power of a Compelling Product?Vision

An excellent Product Vision allows teams to focus on what matters the most. Teams know why they are building the product. They can say no to everything, which doesn’t help them to get closer to the vision. Discussions shift from wishes to how to reach the vision.

So what is a Product Vision? It’s a simple sentence capable of fostering collaboration and guaranteeing focus. My favorite definition is:

The product vision communicates why you are building something and what the value proposition is for the customer. This simple statement describes the problem the user is trying to solve and the capabilities it enables them to solve. Melissa Perri, Escaping the Build Trap:?: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value

Crafting a Product Vision will not be a straightforward task. It will require intensively collaborating with the customers, team, and stakeholders. This simple sentence is vital to building something meaningful. Thus, we need to craft it mindfully. A Compelling Product Vision has the following characteristics:

• Directive: it sets a precise destination where the team should land. Every team member knows what problem the product should solve.
• Clarity: the team knows for whom they are building the product. They have a clear picture of the target audience. The team members can feel the customers’ pains.
• Challenging: it brings a significant challenge to the team, which they are motivated to overcome. Every team member knows the problem the product solves, so the team strives daily to make it a little better.
• Accelerate Decisions: it allows the team to say no to distractions. They can challenge requests by asking, “How would this feature put us closer to achieving our vision?”

Product Owners can craft the Product Vision in many different ways. I think the format itself doesn’t matter. However, it is crucial to have the characteristics I mentioned. Such characteristics allow the team to benefit as expected from the Product Vision.

If you are curious to get some options on how to craft the Product Vision, I have some suggested reading for you:

• 8 Tips for Creating a Compelling Product Vision
• 10 Tips for Product Owners on the Product Vision
• A Surprisingly Simple Technique for a Rockstar Product Vision

Endnote

For years I’ve searched for techniques to prioritize better and handle multiple stakeholders. I concluded that no methods could put us on a successful track until we have a compelling Product Vision.

Without a clear vision to achieve, everything can be discussed. As Product Owners, we end up frustrated because we have pressure from everywhere to build everything. If we don’t know where we want to go, every road will take us there.