Yes, But Not Yet

The other day I told you that the crucial part of product strategy was helping everyone get aligned on when to say "no." That is right. But there's one part that's even harder. It's when product strategy meets product reality.

Let's go to the text

By now you have realized, just three posts in, that I like to make my technology and product development points anchored by Scripture. So let's jump in to Mark 5:21-24.

After Jesus crossed over by boat, a large crowd met him at the seaside. One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees, beside himself as he begged, “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him.

The moment you read, "Jesus went with him," you're hearing the yes, right? If He didn't want to heal the girl, He could have said no. In my last post I showed you that Jesus had no problem saying no.

But the story takes a turn when Jesus stops walking, after feeling someone touch his garments. The story of the bleeding woman that was healed is awesome but I'm going to let you read that on your own. Let's keep going.

While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”

Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.”

Notice again that he's still on the "yes" train. He isn't saying no. But He didn't mind stopping. In fact, you might even consider that he knew what He was doing when he stopped and was "distracted."

He permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, James, and John. They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Why all this busybody grief and gossip? This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.” Provoked to sarcasm, they told him he didn’t know what he was talking about.

But when he had sent them all out, he took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room. He clasped the girl’s hand and said, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy. He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said, “Give her something to eat.”

The Hardest Part of Product Strategy

The hardest part of product strategy is when rubber meets the road. When strategy has to interact with the real world.

The esteemed philosopher Mike Tyson once said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," and he wasn't wrong. But his reference is to the fact that plans normally fail when reality sets in.

I'm talking about something different.

The hardest part is hearing an idea, proposal or suggestion and you know that it's fantastic. But you also know the timing isn't right.

So you have to say, "yes, but not yet."

You're delivering a modified yes, but people often hear a kind no.

Strategy is Forward Thinking

One of the most common questions I get about strategy is how it differs from tactics. I often reply that strategy is about a hypothesis. It's about having an idea about how things might play out. It's thinking about cause and effect in a forward chaining way. Tactics are the actions you take to see if the hypothesis is right.

Think back to the story we were reading. Jesus takes the action of a yes, as he starts walking. But He allows a seeming distraction to pause His movement. It's his modified yes. But of course the Leader's household staff took it as a no.

Let's pause for a second to answer these three questions:

1. Did He not realize the delay might have an impact on the sick girl?
2. Did He not predict that it would result in a possible death?
3. Did He not consider that the leader's servants would wave off the leader?

If you believe He knew everything, then you realize that this is a perfect example of "Yes, but not yet."

Follow me on this...check out these verses in the story...

Did you see, "He permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, James, and John," and, "But when he had sent them all out, he took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room," and, "He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room"?

Those little verses in there scream strategy to me - because it's the opposite of what He wanted - for everyone to hear the Good News. That's how we understand the nature of modified yes statements.

It's about timing. It's the "not yet" part of the yes.

Product Development is Prioritization

What do you put into your roadmap? What do you fit into your sprints? What goes into the first version of the product?

These are the questions we all deal with all the time. And as you work on scope, you'll invariably get input about a cool idea, concept, proposal or feature that sounds great.

The problem?

You need other things in place first. It's a matter of prioritization. And that's when you reply "Yes, but not yet." It's not a no. It's an issue of timing.

Here are the questions I ask myself before replying to any proposed new idea:

1. Is the infrastructure in place to make this an easy addition? If not, then it means I need to lay the groundwork for it. You don't build a house without a foundation, right?
2. Is there something of greater impact or importance that needs to come first? In the world of finite resources, I likely have to make prioritization decisions.
3. Is the audience prepared to consume the new feature? Just because I think it's a great idea doesn't mean my audience is ready for it. Often we have to prepare people for something new.

Should is More Valuable than Can

Let me leave you with this last thought. In the world of software, we're always asking if something is possible. Can we do this? Can we do that? But those are questions of "can."

We need to develop the strong capacity of asking "should" questions:

1. Should we do this at all?
2. How much of this should we do?
3. Should we do it now?

In the story of healing Jairus' daughter we see a powerful picture of "yes, but not yet" that later turns into the full "yes."

I believe that in product development, strategy requires us to give enough time for the story to play out. And that means getting to the final yes. But it often means we have to go thru the "not yet" part.