 I mentioned this in my original post and it is worth saying again. Strategy is word that has lost its meaning like innovation, collaboration and communication. Here is great line from The Cranky Product Manager to put this into perspective for you:
To an extent this is false. Every task requires a strategy to complete it. If I start my day with an activity to execute a set of test cases, I will need a plan to execute the test cases and this makes me strategic. However, I suspect in the context above she was referring to being strategic in the grander sense of the strategy (i.e. the corporate strategy) and in this case she is right. Meet me on the fence! Most employees are executing a corporate strategy or more likely something that has filtered down into the product strategy and therefore these employees are considered tactical and there is nothing wrong with this. Remember, without people the strategy does not exist, therefore your tactical roles are just as important. (I am not trying appease either side here or imply there are sides, we are all on the same team, but I sense “being strategic” is state of being important. My observation could be wrong.) The people who are strategic are the people who are defining a strategy. We know from an earlier post that a strategy is a long term plan which means a Product Manager, who defines the roadmap, is by definition a strategic role. However the problems I see with most roadmaps are they are very tactical-based (putting a feature in your Q3 release is not a strategy) and do not articulate what success means or the plan to achieve success. In a previous post, I discussed the need to consider primary activities and whether you have sufficient content in your roadmap to build on these activities to create additional value and minimize costs. Your roadmap will not end there, you also need to consider defining various strategies (e.g. competitive, operational, marketing, sales, technology, did I miss any?). These strategies will make up your product strategy and according to Michael Porter, must formulate a strategy that leads towards differentiation, cost leadership, or focus in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. In future posts I will dig into how product management can influence the strategy behind each one of the components of your product strategy. Building a roadmap is starting to sound like a lot of work isn’t? It should, done right it is the most important document you can develop. Your product (and career) depends on it. |
|
| If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment or subscribe to the feed to receive future updates. You can also follow me on Twitter. Tell other people about this post. |
Related Posts:
