I remember when I was younger I was always excited to read a map. Yes, the kind you had to fold out to read. I remember learning how to read a map at a very early age. In doing so, I used to help my parents navigate on long trips.
I used to look forward to this, because it meant I was able to do something that not a lot of kids cared to do. It was fun and exciting to know where we were going and how we were getting there. At every rest stop I would dart inside to find all of the maps of the area. Some maps were small and others larger. What intrigued me was what I would find when opening them.
What adventure was inside?
Would this map get us to our destination?
What points of interest were along the way?
I had so many curious questions about where we were going and how we were going to get there. As I reflect, that must have been overwhelming to young me.
When I helped navigate, I would look ahead 5, 20, or even 100 miles and try and find out what was ahead of us. This allowed me to say out loud where we should turn next, or what town was coming up. Then as the good little navigator I was, tend to a nap.
Navigating the map wasn't as difficult as communicating out where we were going. I soon realized that this type of power carried a certain weight and responsibility to everyone in the vehicle. It was an amazing feeling when I was able to successfully navigate us to where we were trying to go. It felt even better if I could do it as efficiently as possible.
What I didn't realize then was that I was optimizing for time, even though my parents never asked me to. Every minute in my mind mattered, because as kids we hated being cooped up in the car on long trips. Looking back, I could have planned to stop at various points of interest (which is something I started doing as I got older) and allow us to adventure more.
Now that I’m older and more experienced, the term “roadmap” takes on a different meaning for me. Now a roadmap is just an artifact that acts as a way to communicate to stakeholders when a project will be started or completed. However, I can't help but feel that these roadmaps have become rigid and inflexible, losing the essence of their purpose.
Roadmaps have become an essential tool for product owners. They provide a visual representation of the planned features, enhancements, and timelines. Stakeholders rely on roadmaps to understand the product's trajectory and make informed decisions. Yet, somewhere along the way, roadmaps have transformed into fixed timelines and rigid commitments, leaving little room for adaptability and creativity.
In an ever-changing landscape where customer needs and market dynamics constantly evolve, sticking strictly to a predefined roadmap can hinder innovation and limit the potential for success. Perhaps it's time to revisit how we approach roadmaps and embrace a more agile mindset.
Instead of viewing roadmaps as static documents, we can shift our perspective to see them as living, breathing guides that evolve alongside the product. A dynamic roadmap allows for flexibility and adjustment, enabling teams to respond to new insights, user feedback, and emerging trends. It acknowledges that change is inevitable and encourages continuous learning and improvement. After all, this guide is the compass for our journey. If we planned a single path to the destination, how could we account for the diverse and varying challenges along the way?
We should encourage collaboration and transparency when it comes to product roadmaps. Including cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and even customers in the roadmap planning process fosters a sense of shared ownership and collective decision-making. Just like when I was younger - navigating my family, I never forgot that I wasn't alone in the car; we were on the journey together.
It's important to remember that roadmaps are not set in stone; they are meant to guide, not dictate. Allowing for flexibility does not imply a lack of discipline or direction. Instead, it embraces the reality of the dynamic business landscape and empowers teams to navigate it more effectively.
When building your roadmap, embrace a more agile and adaptive approach that accommodates change, encourages collaboration, and remains focused on the ultimate goal: delivering value to our customers.
Remember, on this product journey, there’s more than one path. Don’t hesitate to stop and buy a new map.