Why Most Roadmaps Make Poor Results Inevitable
Three common mistakes with roadmaps lead teams to failure
Why do we strive to have a perfect roadmap per quarter? Because we want to commit to the future outputs. Then we can set clear expectations with our stakeholders. Wouldn’t it be ideal for delivering everything on time as we planned?
The perfect plan creates an illusion that makes us forget how complex reality is. Planning upfront doesn’t work in a dynamic environment. Once we insist on an ideal plan upfront, we might not be able to react fast to the inevitable changes. In this case, we will fail to use Scrum to our best interests.
The Scrum Guide doesn’t have a single mention of the word roadmap. But it does say what the Product Backlog is:
The Product Backlog is dynamic; it constantly changes to identify what the product needs to be appropriate, competitive, and useful.
— The Scrum Guide, November 2017
When we don’t accept changes, we fail. Our results will be, at best, mediocre. I believe we can do better than that.
