Roadmaps
One of the key things that makes a shared journey possible is a shared destination. If you're not all going to the same place the chances that you'll end up in the same place are pretty slim. But while a shared destination is key, it's not enough. To have a successful shared journey you need a shared roadmap.
It's not that everyone needs to be traveling the same path. Although many will travel the same path, there are multiple ways to get from A to B, and if you need a stop at C, D, E, F, G, H, and I to pick things up it's probably more efficient to split up and have parts of the group go to each destination. You don't just tell everyone that you'll see them in New York City and hope everyone gets there and they pick up everything that's needed along the way. Instead, you take some time up front and do a little planning. Where are you going? Who's going? Why are you going? What are the stops along the way? What will we need along the way? What will we need when we get there? That's more than a destination, that's a travel plan. A roadmap if you will.
That's just as true for an organization's journey. An org is just a group of people, and whether you're going from one city to another, or rAV to rNA, or say Uber ATG to Aurora, the same basic principles apply. Just saying "Go ahead. I'll see you there on Monday" and expecting everyone to get there on time with everything they need is, shall we say, optimistic ? Better to have a roadmap.
So what goes into a roadmap? Every roadmap is different, because every roadmap starts from a different place/situation and goes to a different place, but there are some good questions to ask to figure out what goes into your roadmap. These questions apply not just to the "destination", but any stops (releases) along the way.
- What are we building/learning/proving?
- Who are the users/customers?
- How do we share this?
- What are the assumptions?
- What do we depend on?
- What do we need that we don't have?
