What’s a product vision? How can your vision be strong but flexible at the same time?
Before creating a product, a leader must define and articulate an overarching vision to guide their team. Marty Cagan and Chris Jones write that a product vision is the company’s mission, as reflected through its products and services.
Continue reading to learn how to create a product vision as a leader of a business.
Set Your Vision
A shared vision keeps everyone in a business focused on what they’re collectively trying to accomplish and why it matters. For example, a company that makes outdoor apparel might state its vision as “bringing more people back into the great outdoors.” In this case, the mission isn’t just to make a profit from hiking gear—it’s to get people excited about hiking.
(Shortform note: There are some nuances to crafting a company vision that Cagan and Jones don’t explore in detail. In Leading Change, John P. Kotter argues that a good vision is realistic but ambitious and strikes the right balance between being expansive and specific. It can’t be so vague as to be meaningless—it must be specific enough to offer guidance on how employees should work toward the vision. On the other hand, it can’t be so detailed that it limits employees’ individual initiative or is unresponsive to changing circumstances. An effective product vision for your business must leave room for innovation.)
Cagan and Jones insist that as part of learning how to create a product vision, you should clearly articulate your company’s objectives, ensuring your team understands the significance of these objectives to the organization. If crafted well, a strong vision has a powerful impact on team performance: It motivates your team, aligns their efforts with those of the business, and provides them with the framework to decide how to achieve their goals, creating an environment ripe for innovation.
(Shortform note: In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin add one more necessary condition for a leader to do their job effectively—leaders must believe in the objectives they put forward before inspiring their team to work toward it, because any doubt on the team leaders’ part will undermine overall team confidence. Within a company’s structure, high-level leaders must be open to addressing middle managers’ concerns if they hope to foster buy-in and support. Willink and Babin argue that it’s every leader’s job to clarify and understand the purpose behind any objectives they pass on to their teams.)
A Good Vision Is Strong but Flexible
The power of an inspiring vision lies in its emotional resonance. Don’t limit your vision to simple goals or added product features. Instead, Cagan and Jones recommend aiming for a compelling vision that every team member can connect with deeply—one that’s vibrant and emotionally charged. You can do this by building your vision around a narrative about how your company’s products affect lives in a meaningful way. A robust shared purpose, be it revolutionizing customer experiences or transforming how a business operates, can lead to stronger employee buy-in, commitment, and innovation across the board.
| A Vision of a Positive Future As a complement to Cagan and Jones’s narrative approach, an alternate way to craft an emotionally compelling vision is to base it on a positive vision of the future. In The Leadership Challenge, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner offer specific approaches you can take to craft an inspiring, future-oriented vision.Examine your past so you can better understand how you arrived where you are, which in turn can inform your future decisions. Be fully aware of your organization’s present trends and patterns, as well as challenges and conditions outside your organization, so you can better anticipate what’s to come.Scout the future for changes in your workplace, industry, or the wider world. Shifts in technology, economics, and demographics can guide your vision.Use your passions to determine the direction you want your business to go, and use that direction to help you decide what vision you’re willing to work for. |
However, remember that circumstances change, whether due to internal shifts in your business or external factors such as market dynamics or changes in your industry. In these cases, Cagan and Jones advise that you revise your strategic vision accordingly while keeping it relatable and relevant to the times. Regularly refreshing your team’s perspective will ensure that no matter what changes occur, you’ll maintain high motivation levels among employees by constantly keeping their focus on the future and how their teams contribute to the success of the business.
(Shortform note: One difficulty in following the author’s advice to keep your eye on your business’s future is that the future is inherently uncertain. In Think Like a Rocket Scientist, Ozan Varol suggests two ways to deal with uncertainty from the fields of science and engineering. The first is to clearly define your uncertainty—establish exactly what you do and don’t know about your company’s future and then think through scenarios for best and worst outcomes, understanding that the truth will lie somewhere in between. Varol’s second approach is to build some redundancy into your business to act as a failsafe against disaster. For example, you might ask teams to work on different possible solutions to a problem to increase your chance of finding one.)
