Roadmaps and Planning Archives

Embracing Uncertainty: A Modern Take On Strategy, Goals, and Roadmaps

We all strive for certainty — if we do X, Y will happen. Certainty is comforting; it allows us to operate without fear, doubt, or having to think too much. Many of the processes your company employs, especially strategy, roadmap, and project planning, are meant to create certainty — Here’s what we need to do […]

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The Lifecycle of Goals: Research, Discover, Deliver, Monitor

Goals and OKRs, Product Discovery, Roadmaps and Planning

Product companies tend to manage the lifecycle of projects (AKA ideas) — from the moment the project/initiative is approved until it is shipped. But in a reality where most ideas fail to create value, it is far more important to manage the lifecycle of goals (what we’re attempting to achieve)— from the moment the goal

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Planning With Outcome Roadmaps

Frameworks and Tools, Roadmaps and Planning

As I’m writing this, the dreaded yearly planning cycle is just around the corner and the debate over roadmaps is surfacing once more. On one hand it’s clear that classic roadmaps that show releases on a timeline create both high planning overhead and high waste. On the other hand, attempts to construct roadmaps around outcomes

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Dealing with Top-Down Projects

Prioritization, Roadmaps and Planning

Q: My manager keeps instructing me to build certain features that were decided on by management without my input. I’m not happy not to be consulted, and I disagree with many of these ideas, but my manager always presents them as a “must” and is not willing to challenge the decisions. What can I do?

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Your Roadmap Isn’t Really a Road Map

PM Role and Skills, Roadmaps and Planning

Roadmaps are a hotly debated topic these days. I regularly meet CPOs who try to ban this staple of product management altogether. This often worries and confuses the rest of the company. What’s wrong with roadmaps? Why can’t we just go on planning as we did since the 1970s? In this highly entertaining talk, Gojko

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The GIST Board and Other GIST Tools

Frameworks and Tools, PM Role and Skills, Product Discovery, Roadmaps and Planning

Ever since I started writing about the GIST framework (Goals, Ideas, Steps, Tasks) and helping teams implement it, the question the comes up the most is “what tool should we use?” While I don’t think tools are are as important as we tend to think, in this post I’ll give you a few options, including a new tool that

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Escaping the Vicious Cycle of Plan & Execute

Anti-Patterns, Frameworks and Tools, Product Operating Model, Roadmaps and Planning

Tell me if this sounds familiar: Well-thought-out strategies change seemingly every other quarter. 9-month projects that take two years to complete. Disgruntled managers talking about “low velocity”, “lack of ‘can do’ culture”. Skeptical employees talking about lack of vision, bad planning, politics. Spending lots of time on planning, replanning, scope-downs Disappointing launches that customers generally

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Why you should stop using product roadmaps and try the GIST Framework

Frameworks and Tools, Product Discovery, Roadmaps and Planning

Why I Quit Product Roadmaps Over the years I created my fair share of product strategies, product roadmaps and project gantts. I don’t do them anymore. I found a better alternative which I’ll explain below. First, here’s what I used to do: This form of planning is a ton of work — just getting all stakeholders to

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