Are product roadmaps dangerous?

I recently ran across a blog post called “Product roadmaps are dangerous.” The main point was that publishing a long-term roadmap shackles your ability to accommodate evolving priorities. The comments posted were interesting for their diversity and disagreements. It was as if some of the people felt that their projects were how all projects are, reminding me of the Blind Men and an Elephant proverb. In the proverb, each person touches a different part of the elephant, such as the tusk, trunk, tail, ears, etc. As they attempt to describe the elephant to each other, they fall into disagreement due to their different perspectives.

Yes, in some cases, product roadmaps can be dangerous. For example, if you are effectively publishing a delivery schedule with specific dates 18-24 months out, you may be valuing the plan more than the ability to respond to evolving priorities. Also, is it possible to set customer expectations about what the roadmap is (a high-level vision) as opposed to what it isn't (a set in stone delivery schedule)? Definitely consider how a roadmap will affect your customer's expectations before publishing.

As I mentioned in my blog about product roadmaps, I create a high-level roadmap for most of my projects to help identify dependencies and refine priorities. It can be a nice high-level visual to ensure that the best decisions are made, e.g. “Mr. VP, you just added features X, Y, and Z and would like to get these done in the next Milestone/Release. That milestone currently includes features A, B, and C, so we would be shifting these later. Is this what you would like to do?" Even if you manage a product without one or a few customers that you can easily ask, you can still use the product roadmap to better help prioritize the old and the new, identify dependencies, etc.

Going back to the elephant proverb, the details of your particular project (customer type, industry, project size, etc.) will drive how to best leverage the value of a product roadmap. You can tailor the roadmap to your situation, such as the time frame you are covering (2 months? 2 years?), whether you include delivery dates, to whom you distribute the roadmap, etc.