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Executive Alignment Before the Roadmap
When a product organization struggles, the fix usually isn't a new roadmap, process or org chart. It's getting the leadership team aligned first. Leaders have to agree on what the business needs from product, what they're choosing not to do, and which decisions their teams can make on their own. Once those trade-offs are explicit and the outcomes are agreed, the roadmap becomes useful instead of just a tidy cover for an unresolved disagreement.
A sharper roadmap won't fix a disagreement. It will just make it look tidy.
When a product organization struggles, the first instinct is to redraw the roadmap. Or the process. Or the org chart.
I start with the leadership team instead.
Can your leaders say what the business needs from product? Can they name what they are choosing not to do? Do their teams know which decisions they can make without waiting for permission?
If the leaders haven't made those choices together, no roadmap will make them for you. The work is to make the trade-offs explicit, agree on the outcomes that matter, and give people room to learn fast. Then the roadmap becomes useful.
What decision is your team postponing behind a planning exercise?
