Several of my clients want to plan the product roadmap and then “work to the plan.” They think the roadmap is the long-term goal.
But roadmaps aren't goals. Instead, they are tactics for achieving a long-term goal. That means we need long-term goals based on both the corporate strategy and each product's strategy.
Those are two separate, but related strategy activities.
The project portfolio, where we choose which work to do now, instantiates the corporate, the overall organizational strategy.
In contrast, each product requires its own strategy. That strategy defines the customers, the problems, and when we will deliver value to those customers.
I prefer to start with the project portfolio because it clarifies the corporate long-term goals.
The Project Portfolio Creates the Corporate Strategy
When organizations choose what to do—and even more importantly—what not to do, they create the corporate strategy.
The what “to do” ranking explains what's important to the organization and what's not. Often, the “what's not” is for now, not forever. That's why the zeroth question is so critical to the project portfolio. (See Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects for more information.) You can always put work on the parking lot. (See Three Kinds of Parking Lots to Finish More Work and Reduce Decision Load.)
When leaders remove what's less valuable, everyone can focus on what's most valuable. That focus creates the corporate strategy, and allows room for people to manage each product's strategy.
While I always hope that the leaders decide on the corporate strategy first, sometimes organizations need to deliver something before they can choose a corporate strategy. That's why it helps to have a product strategy for each product.
Each Product Strategy Delivers to the Corporate Strategy
I like to ask these product-based questions to clarify a given product's strategy:
- What customer problems do we want to solve?
- How will we find those customers?
- How fast can we give them what they want (customer value)?
- How fast can we learn from the customers? (This depends on the team's cycle time.)
The team's delivery (cycle time) allows the product leader to iterate over the product strategy in the roadmap. In turn, the faster the team and the product leader can learn from the customers, the faster everyone can change the roadmap and review the product and corporate strategies.
Notice what I said there: change the roadmap.
The roadmap is a short-term plan. The product strategy might change more often than a corporate strategy, but both kinds of strategies allow everyone to experiment with products to achieve the long-term goals.
All detailed planning, whether it's options, sprint backlog planning, or longer roadmaps must be short term. That's because these plans all serve product and corporate strategies.
So often, we confuse those long term goals with short term plans. That's because we often need to keep several horizons in mind—and wow, that challenges most of us.
Planning Feels Good
Cadence-based planning, such as daily, weekly, or monthly allows us to feel as if we accomplished something. That kind of planning is concrete. We can say we're done at the end of it until we have to plan the next time.
In addition, we think we use those long-term horizons—our strategy in the form of long-term goals—to inform our detailed planning. That's not what I see. Instead, I see smart people like my clients who think they can use roadmaps as a substitute for long-term goals.
That's a problem because the longer the plan extends, the less we allow for change. Most of us know things will change much more frequently than a longer roadmap. (See How to Plan for Change: Clear Strategy, Small Deliverables, Rolling Wave with Options for more information.)
Instead, we need to keep the long-term goal (strategy) in mind, and do the minimum detailed plans for now.
Strategy Challenges Us
Because we need to keep the long term goal in mind while we do short term plans, strategy is a huge challenge. That's why so many people like to use the term, “strategic planning.” the planning part of that phrase makes us feel as if we will finish it, and cross it off our list.
But effective strategy is never really “done.”
Right now, I'm suggesting my clients use the words, “strategic clarification.” I'm not sure those are the “right” words, but they help all of us realize that strategy cannot be static. We can't plan strategy and forget it until next year. That's why we have to review the project portfolio much more often than once a year. And every time we review the portfolio, we can adjust or clarify our strategy. Strategy clarification does not end.
We can finish planning for now, and cross that activity off our list. But clarifying our strategy? When that depends on the cycle time of every team and every roadmap?
A huge challenge.
The first step is to stop confusing our long term goals (strategy) with short term plans. My clients are slowly relearning their approach to planning. You can, too.