Product/market fit, prioritizing the wrong pain point, poor market timing, insufficient margin, low conversion rates, the list goes on and on.

However, there is one reason rarely raised — the product roadmap.

Yet, when given time to reflect, most product managers agree that the product roadmap is the root cause of at least half the problems products face.

Why?

Roadmaps drive the product built and the outcomes delivered based on the strategy defined. They synthesize the vision, strategy, and research into a game plan to ship a successful product.

Yet, roadmaps are often seen as a simple plan for execution, not a strategic document. As a result, rather than reflecting a path to deliver the product strategy, if one exists, they are a neglected collection of random, unvalidated, often incorrectly prioritized features based on which customer or end user screams the loudest.

Ok, that may be extreme.

However, many companies view roadmaps as a means to an end rather than a way to translate strategy into its physical (or digital) manifestation. Making matters worse, the product team often executes against the roadmap without questioning what's on it, pushing back when changes are needed, and understanding the strategy behind it.

That's the definition of a feature factory — volume over value.

This attitude toward the roadmap is a prime cause of failure for many products.

Remember:

"A product roadmap is a strategic communication tool. It exists to communicate our hypothesis on what a user wants in the form of outcomes, what buyers will pay for and the returns they will get, and how we are enabling the success of our company. As a strategic document, it lays out the why, how, what, when, and for whom framed around target outcomes.

It's akin to a story that shares the product's journey from its current to its future state. But, unlike a story written solely by an author, a product roadmap is a dynamic narrative influenced by various stakeholders, including engineers, marketers, salespeople, and customers."

If your roadmap is not these things, take a step back and rethink it.

Bottom line: If the roadmap is off and leads the team down the wrong path, the product will fail. As a product manager, you must be critical and protective of the roadmap, ensuring it reflects a path to win while ensuring it isn't wrecked by outside forces — management, stakeholders, the team, or anyone else.

Features above all

As far as roadmaps are concerned, it was as bad as it gets. And I've seen some downright disasters. It wasn't the structure — it looked nice and mapped to clearly defined releases. But it was hollow. There was no substance. No rhyme or reason as to why the features on the roadmap were chosen. No definition of value, no outcomes, no story or link to a strategy.

As a leader, I always work to give the team the benefit of the doubt, especially when I am the 'new guy.' In this case, I had recently joined a software company — not big tech.

And that's exactly what I planned to do in this situation: understand, not blame. However, I was also under pressure as the product was failing, and the company was bleeding cash. So it had to be a 'give the team grace and get past it fast situation.'

So, after getting to know each other and building enough trust, I started with a basic yet powerful question: Why was each feature on the roadmap, and why was it where it was in terms of priorities and releases?

The answer was not good. No one knew why. The team only knew how it got there — sales funneled customer requests based on who was screaming loudest and offering to pay the most money. Making matters worse, the features were based on limited input from one customer — no market research, user validation, or concept testing.

No wonder it didn't reflect a story or even a set of related outcomes delivering value to customers. It wasn't based on a product strategy or even an organized plan.

While contemplating and wondering what I had gotten myself into, someone made an offhand comment that broke my concentration.

They said, and I quote, "I'm glad you are here asking the questions we have all wanted to ask, but it doesn't matter — sales sold the roadmap for the next 18 months, so we are committed."

Another issue to add to the list- lack of flexibility.

We were on a collision course with failure.

The good news is that the whole team was motivated to get things on the right track. They just needed direction and air cover.

But we had to act fast and focus. Since we couldn't fix everything immediately, we had to prioritize our interventions. Does this sound familiar?

Based on my experience and discussion with the team, we agreed on three specific actions.

• Rapid strategy. Unfortunately, we were in a situation where we didn't have a product strategy. And we didn't have time to create a complete one. So we decided to create a rapid, abridged version in one week and further develop it after we were in better shape. We focused on the vision/north star, user-centered value story, and metrics. Three out of eight core elements of product strategy. Three elements would provide at least a loose guide by which we could evaluate features and ensure alignment with market, customer, user, stakeholder, and company expectations. **link to article on product strategy for more.
• Delete, delete, delete. We looked at every item on the roadmap for the next 18 months. Any feature that did not have clear business value, outcomes, and impact on more than two customers was removed and placed on a separate backlog for future consideration. We aimed to cut 40%, creating room for new capabilities and features driven by customer discovery and careful analysis in future releases. Given the lack of research supporting the items on the roadmap, this was a judgment call based on industry experience and what the team knew about the customers.
• Prioritize. Of the features left, we further prioritized them as we weren't confident we could deliver those left or that they were all equally important. We also needed to get in the habit of prioritizing as a team. We reviewed each item left on the roadmap against the strategy to confirm importance and then used the RICE method to rank order what was left.

Ultimately, we got things back on track and avoided a roadmap-driven failure. In the process, however, I almost lost my job. I had seriously pissed off sales, marketing, stakeholders, and customers.

Was it easy? No. It took intentional effort and a bit more time than expected, but we saved the product as a team.

Three ways roadmaps cause products to fail

Unfortunately, the story I shared above is all too common. There are many ways roadmaps can cause a product to fail. However, there are five I see most often.

1. No strategy or story. A roadmap reflects the product strategy and target outcomes while telling a story of how the product will deliver differentiated value to customers and users while winning in the market. If you don't understand the product strategy, step back. A roadmap that does not reflect a strategy or story will not deliver a successful product. An important note is to say no to requests that don't align with the strategy or story.
2. Not aligned. Alignment comes in five forms: market, customer, user, stakeholder, and company. A roadmap must reflect alignment with these groups, maximizing the number of people in each group whose needs will be met while delivering benefits and outcomes to each. If the roadmap overly indexes on one of the five or specific factions in each — think the customer who screams the loudest — then it needs refactoring.
3. Overly rigid. Roadmaps that are too rigid do not allow for adjustments based on new information, market changes, or user feedback. This inflexibility will result in a product that is out of sync with market needs and customer expectations. Roadmaps need to leave room to adapt. Iterate or become irrelevant.
4. Unclear direction. This is an obvious issue, but it is often overlooked. If the roadmap is unclear or misunderstood by the team, it will lead to failure. The team needs to be aligned and able to visualize how they will deliver the objectives and outcomes on the roadmap.
5. Unrealistic promises. Another obvious but often overlooked one is feature overload. If the roadmap is overly ambitious or reflects impossible expectations, it won't work. Unrealistic roadmaps demotivate the team and are never delivered. Be real about what can be delivered, given the constraints you have. The team will thank you.

You are the guardian of the roadmap; protect it from failure

Knowing why roadmaps cause products to fail is half the battle. You also need to know what you can do about it. When talking with and training product managers, I highlight three specific actions that prevent the roadmap from causing product failure.

1. No strategy, no go. You can't create a successful product roadmap if there is no strategy. If you are thrown into a situation where there is no strategy, you don't have access to it, or it's unclear, do the right thing — stop. If you are under pressure to deliver, acknowledge the situation with the team and do what I did — create it in parallel. Without a strategy, your roadmap will become a collection of random features that provide no clear direction to the team.
2. Question everything. Why is a powerful question. Getting to the heart of what's on the roadmap or requested will help you understand whether it's essential and a priority. It will also prevent your roadmap from becoming overly rigid. Don't simply accept things regardless of who requests them. If you don't understand why a feature was requested or what it is, the team will be unclear on what to deliver. And without clear value and outcomes, you will provide features no one uses. Delete, delete, delete.
3. Be selective. This is a big one. Even if you have a strategy and clearly understand the value and requirements of each feature, you have to be selective. You can't do everything. You must prioritize. Prioritization based on a clear and transparent framework that accounts for capacity and constraints is critical to success. Again, you must be willing to delete, delete, delete. Being selective based on the strategy, the target outcomes, and constraints lead to a realistic roadmap the team can get behind.

Ultimately, product teams look to product managers to create a roadmap they can believe in, understand, and deliver, which leads to winning in the market. It's a tough job, but you can do it.

Bringing it home

Product roadmaps can make or break a product's success.

Ensuring your roadmap is grounded in strategy, aligned with stakeholder needs, flexible enough to adapt, clear in direction, and realistic in scope set your team and product up for success.

As a product manager, you are the guardian of the roadmap. As the guardian, remember that a well-crafted roadmap isn't just a plan — it's a strategic communication tool that guides your team in creating real value and outcomes.

Treat your roadmap with the care and critical thinking it deserves, and you'll be well-positioned to lead your company, product, and team to success.

Embrace the responsibility.