Product Management is changing.
Initially, Product Managers were only expected to manage the products that were already in the market (Horizon 1).
Over the last 20 years, Product Managers have moved from managing products to becoming drivers of change, orchestrating development for ideas that are yet to go to market (Horizon 2). This is a direct result of the digital transformation that has given ubiquitous access to internet and mobile services (and much more).
We are now on the cusp of the next evolution of Product Management. This is being driven by the science fiction-like changes that are presenting themselves in our current world. We now live in a world where we co-exist with artificial intelligence, the first self-driving cars, virtualised and distributed workplaces, personal 3D printing machines and so much more. Among these, we are enduring world-changing disruptions in the form of pandemics and conflict that will forever transform our experience.
It is in the face of this change that Product Management must now also embrace “future” products. Largely, the time scales that we use to consider for Horizon 3 initiatives have been compressed to the present day.
To help us frame this journey into an uncertain future, we will be guided by the time-tested rules of nautical voyage planning. The rules of voyage planning allow a ship to set sail on a voyage to a land it’s never seen before and arrive safely at that chosen destination.
The Product Navigation Framework comprises the following steps:
Chart
Chart is the third step in the Product Navigation Framework. Charting signifies that we are ready to plan the journey to our future destination. At this stage, the core team is solidified but will require more specialised assistance and expertise to inform the design and plan the route.
What is it?
Charting ensures the team and the organisation understands the route we’re taking. Every journey has uncertainty, but charting produces a Voyage Blueprint as well as a Voyage Plan with milestones and potential changes. While it is essential the team is comfortable with the unknown, the Voyage Plan offers our stakeholders assurance that we have an understanding of the conditions for success. With a Voyage Plan, we are set to sail.
Goal
The goals of Chart are to garner the voyage’s guiding principles, produce a Voyage Plan and assemble the initial provisions for the journey. The organisation’s confidence will continue to lift as we more deeply detail the voyage, the timeframe and anticipate any challenges that we may encounter along the way.
How do we Chart?
- Design – The Voyage Blueprint to manage the unknowns and set principles for making decisions
- Plan – The route with milestones to keep the voyage on track
- Provision – The team with the requirements to begin the journey, knowing that we’ll stop to refuel along the way
1. Design
Research about the industry, market, as well as our organisation has already been completed in Appraise. In Chart, apply the team’s insights (gaps and risks) and information (expert advice) to begin designing the Voyage Blueprint.
The Blueprint is a high-level schematic of how the team will approach the Voyage. The benefit of having a Blueprint is that it guides team behaviour and empowers the team to make decisions. This Voyage is a significant strategic undertaking for the organisation; it will require alignment and autonomy to drive forward to the destination. It cannot rely on management or executive oversight and supervision to reach the future destination, as the goal must be to manage through principles rather than people.
The Voyage Blueprint contains but is not limited to:
- The Voyage Method – The approach we’ll take to bridge the high and medium-term organisational gaps
- Team Engagement Principles – Ways we’ll engage with our immediate team, other internal teams and external partners
- Decision principles – How will the team be empowered to make decisions on:
- Problems – Guidelines to help the team solve strategic and operational problems during the Voyage
- Investment – Guidelines to assist the team make appropriate financial decisions
The Voyage Blueprint Example:
The Voyage Method: | Mixed Resource Method Develop internal capability to lead the journey and to develop key IP, outsource where appropriate and partner with experts to get to market within the expected timeframe |
Team Engagement Principles: | Immediate Team
Other Internal Teams
External Partners
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Decision Principles: | When solving problems:
When considering investments:
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Creating the Blueprint requires engagement with specific functional teams that are aligned to each section contained in the Blueprint. The immediate team should brainstorm possible unforeseen scenarios or events that they may encounter during the journey. The risks identified in Appraise can be used to prime these scenarios.
From there, the team should design the Team Engagement Principles to manage any friction or challenges that may arise during these events. Using the scenarios as a guide, co-create the Investment Principles with the finance team. The Voyage Method and Decision Principles when created require endorsement from executives. Formal executive endorsement is vital because the Voyage Blueprint provides the team with the journey’s decision-making guidelines.
The Voyage Blueprint should not be altered regularly. Charters should use the Voyage Blueprint like a compass and refer to it regularly throughout the journey. Like a compass, the intent of the Blueprint is to ensure that the whole team is pointing in the same direction; behaving and solving problems in the same way.
2. Plan
It can be difficult to plan for Horizon 1 improvements, so planning for Horizon 3 can feel impossible. With so many uncertainties, it can be tempting not to plan. But, without a plan, it is challenging to organise people and resources to begin the journey.
To overcome this challenge, think of the Voyage Plan as a hypothesis of the ‘safest, most favourable and economical route’ to the future destination.
The Voyage Plan outlines the preferred route the journey should take. Part of designing that route means articulating and planning for the known unknowns, things we’re aware of but do not understand how to resolve. This Voyage Plan should also include alternative routes that prepare the team for unexpected conditions when the preferred route is no longer tenable. The team can decide when the original route is no longer executable following the decision principles outlined in the Voyage Blueprint.
Importantly, the Voyage Plan is to be designed in conjunction with the Voyage Blueprint. Stakeholder discussions and the process of creating each artefact will inform the other. It is expected that the Blueprint remains fairly static. The Voyage Plan, however, is expected to be modified frequently as we gain more information mid-journey.
The Voyage Plan is at its heart a communication tool and should be referred to constantly during the journey. Making the Voyage Plan visible can be useful as it allows the team to plot where they are on the journey during subsequent stages.
The Voyage Plan Example:
Voyage Method | Mixed Resource Method Develop internal capability to lead the journey and to develop key IP, outsource where appropriate and partner with experts to get to market within the expected timeframe |
Target Duration | 5 Years |
Milestones |
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Preferred Route | We believe the safest, most favourable and economical route to the future destination to be:
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Known Unknowns | There are several unknowns that may alter this route:
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Alternative Route | We believe the next best route to the future destination to be:
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Once the team has a clear mental model of the Voyage Plan and can confidently articulate the Plan to stakeholders, it’s time to provision for the initial part of the journey.
3. Provision
The first step of Provision is to unlock the first tranche of funding. Launching Horizon 3 products is a financially intensive undertaking and the type and amount of resources required to complete this feat are usually not available in the day-to-day, operational budgets. A key part of Appraise was advocating and raising the organisation’s confidence, this should continue as planning solidifies the journey in Chart.
While it is difficult to accurately forecast the investment return at this early stage, what we can call attention to are the ramifications for the organisation’s future if it does not undertake this crucial journey. Only then will we be able to unlock the first round of funding.
Charters also have to check that the current organisational capital required to fuel the journey is accessible and is in order. Is the Provision funding adequate to fill the high-priority gaps identified in Appraise, and by when will they be filled? If the required organisational capital isn’t available, this may delay the beginning of the Voyage or it may mean that Charters have to find substitutes.
The excitement of the journey now begins to take hold as Chart comes to an end. The journey seems less daunting, and more attainable, as we work as a team to Voyage to the future. Let’s go!
