I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter lately about ditching the long-term, feature-based roadmap. For years, it’s been a sacred artifact for PMs, but in a world of constant market shifts and AI-accelerated development cycles, is a detailed 12-month plan more of a liability than a guide?
This has given rise to the ‘un-roadmap’ or the ‘now-next-later’ framework on steroids. The idea is to commit to high-level strategic themes but only detail the specific initiatives for the immediate quarter. Instead of a rigid timeline of features, the focus shifts to a flexible backlog of customer problems to solve, prioritized by desired outcomes. This approach embraces uncertainty and empowers teams to pivot quickly without the organizational drag of a roadmap overhaul.
The challenge, of course, is stakeholder management. Moving away from a concrete, date-driven plan requires a massive level of trust and cross-functional alignment. Leaders need to be bought into the ‘why’ behind the work, not just the ‘what’ and ‘when’. Keeping that context clear is something we’re passionate about at https://leera.io, where we focus on connecting team feedback and insights directly to strategic objectives. When everyone understands the goals, a rigid plan becomes less necessary.
So, how is your team handling long-term planning in this volatile environment?