Jordan Dalladay's Hot Take - We Should Build Roadmaps Of Risks, Not Features (with Jordan Dalladay, Product Consultant @ inherent ventures)
Oct 6, 2024
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Jordan Dalladay, a product strategist at inherent ventures, shares his unconventional take on product roadmapping. He argues for a focus on risks instead of just features, promoting a risk-based product strategy. Dalladay emphasizes validating assumptions and conducting experiments to enhance product development success. He discusses navigating the challenges of implementing risk management in organizations and the importance of clear communication and documentation in prioritizing risk assessment for effective decision-making.
A risk-based product strategy prioritizes understanding key assumptions and potential pitfalls to enhance product success effectively.
Rethinking traditional roadmapping encourages startups to manage uncertainties through experimentation and alignment on success criteria.
Deep dives
Inverting the Roadmapping Process
A risk-based product approach suggests rethinking the traditional roadmapping process by focusing on the necessary conditions for success, rather than just the features to be built. This method emphasizes identifying key assumptions behind a product idea, such as its desirability, feasibility, and viability. Understanding these assumptions can help prioritize the most uncertain and impactful aspects of a project. By articulating these risks, teams can create a learning roadmap that involves running targeted experiments to validate their ideas and move closer to product-market fit.
Addressing Organizational Challenges
In many startups, a lack of product expertise can hinder effective risk management and the assumption-based approach to roadmapping. Founders might not possess the necessary knowledge of product management principles, making it crucial to introduce these concepts to them in a practical manner. Conversely, larger organizations often lean towards certainty, leading to rigid expectations based on vague plans. By focusing on de-risking and using accessible language, such as discussions around risk and assumptions, product leaders can aid business executives in understanding and embracing more flexible product strategies.
Concrete Steps for Product Managers
To begin shifting from a feature-driven mindset to a more strategic approach, product managers should explicitly document their assumptions and evaluate their impacts. It is essential to define what success looks like for a project to avoid confusion between the problem and solution. This process involves critically assessing the assumptions that shape decision-making and identifying the most critical uncertainties. By engaging stakeholders in this reflective exercise, teams can foster alignment and create a more informed environment conducive to experimentation and innovation.
Jordan Dalladay is a product strategist and leader who works with startup founders to help them turn ambitious ideas into market successes. He specializes in "dragging a vision kicking and screaming into reality" with his consultancy, inherent ventures.
His hot take? We should invert our approach to product roadmapping. Instead of listing features to build, create a "risk-based product strategy" that outlines all the assumptions and potential pitfalls that could prevent success. This approach helps teams prioritize learning and experimentation, validating their riskiest assumptions first and dragging their vision into reality more effectively.