Where Are We Going?

Everyone relishes information, right? We all want to know what we're working on and where we're going. In the product world, people want roadmaps and a clear sense of what success will look like. It's all about making sure we know where we're going and we're all aligned. Right?

What if that desire we feel isn't actually serving us?

First, hear me, I'm not against roadmaps or defining what success will look like. I'm simply not a believer that they are the end-all, that they solve all the problems we think they solve. Maybe more importantly, I believe they create new problems we didn't realize we'd now need to solve.

But before I get into that, let's look at a couple of verses to see why I have this opinion.

Moses at the Burning Bush

You know the story. Moses is walking in the desert and hears words coming from a burning bush - a bush that's on fire but isn't being consumed. It's all in Exodus 3. Let's pick it up in verse 9.

“The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

“I’ll be with you,” God said. “And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain.”

Pretty awesome, right? Talking to the God of the Universe. Being given a mission. Having a clear articulation of success - you'll worship right here on this mountain.

If you know the story, you know the entirety of what happens is a lot more complicated, with several plagues and a ton of challenges with the Pharaoh.

So here's a question - why didn't God tell Moses the entire story up front?

Does This Sound Familiar?

I was once in a meeting where someone told us that they had a strategy that would generate an 87% increase in leads. I've been in other meetings where someone has told us that a particular approach would engage 34% of our audience, or that a particular ad strategy would drive a 12% increase in revenue.

What's wrong with any of these promises? Surely those are good things to want, right?

It's the specificity that made them unbelievable.

Have you been in those same kinds of meetings? Have you heard the same kind of promises? Does it sound familiar?

Here's what's worse. We get anchored. Right? We determine that if we don't see an 87% increase in leads, a 34% audience engagement, or a 12% revenue lift - that we've failed.

As humans, we easily get anchored.

We fall prey to the trap that there's one right way, one right approach, and one definition of success.

This is why I said that roadmaps solve some problems and create others. Roadmaps aren't the problem.

The problem is our desire to live without ambiguity.

Everyone Falls into the Trap

If you're feeling seen and bad about it, don't worry. We're not the first ones who fall into this trap. Remember the good folks in Exodus? Even with a pillar of clouds or fire leading them (God), more than once they'd reply to Moses saying, "What, did you bring us out here for us to die in this desert?"

We all want to know where we're going, what we're doing, and how everything is going to work out. That's supposedly what a roadmap offers. Until we get anchored to a document and get frustrated or freak out when things don't go perfectly according to plan.

Remember the Mike Tyson quote I told you about? Mike - everyone-has-a-plan- until-they-get-hit-in-the-face - Tyson.

He was basically telling us that plans are great but don't work.

Pains, Goals & Initiatives

So what do we do to keep everyone aligned, to articulate our strategies and to move forward in a directed and intelligent way?

In other words, how do we leverage the best parts of roadmaps without letting them trap us?

Like I have already said multiple times - roadmaps aren't the problem.

Learning to live with risk and ambiguity is critical when building products because there is no sure thing - no way to ensure that we won't have a plan destroyed by a punch in the face.

So what do we do?

Here's my take.

1. Start with pain. What are the articulated pains that your customers are clear about?
2. Rank and connect the pains to goals. For most people, an articulated pain is a reflection of their goals. So while they can't articulate their goals, they can circle around them by talking about their pains. Goals are what move people to action, so make is the center of what you're doing.
3. Create different initiatives for each goal (features/offers). It's easy to try to create a single offering that covers everything, but it is likely the fastest way to failure. You've heard people say you can't please everyone all of the time. They're right.

Look back to Exodus 3 (7-10) - and you'll see how it plays out.

God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

“The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.”

He starts with the pain (affliction and cries). Then He shifts to the goal (get them out of the grip of Egypt, to a land of milk and honey). Lastly he ends with the initiative (sending Moses to the Pharaoh).

But like we've seen before, He doesn't give Moses a play by play.