Vision, Value, Validation- the Destination, the Map and the Compass to help you navigate the Product Management Labyrinth

At the outset, let me start this article with the caveat that frameworks aren’t great for creative processes; however, they can be useful to ensure that we stay within broadly accepted principles, help each other converse and decide on common parameters and establish boundaries- especially with regards to the needles we’re trying to move as product manager. With that, let’s look at one of these loosely held framework that can help you make sense of your product’s journey through its lifecycle. The three V’s framework is a nifty little framework to keep you- the Product Manager- true to your purpose of maximizing value and building customer-outcome focussed products.

Vision establishes transparency.

It is the North star for the product. It helps teams self-manage and organize towards Product Goals. It lets the teams, the product manager, the stakeholders and the customers establish transparency and- by extension- accountability in the system

Value is how you measure your progress towards your Vision.

To understand which of the gazillion features would be the most valuable to your Customers (and to the Product), you need to define Key metrics that contribute to the Product Vision. These are the needles you need to move in order to reach your goals. Definition of metrics enables Inspection.

Validation is knowing whether to continue in one direction (Persist) or Pivot based on your Inspection outcomes; leading to Adaptation- the third Pillar of Scrum.

Your Product Vision sets the tone for the Product’s success tomorrow.

Articulating the Product Vision is one of the most important responsibilities of a Product Manager. It may seem trivial, but the Vision sets the agenda for everyone- the teams, the stakeholders, the customers and the investors.

I use this simple mental framework to define inspiring Visions:

• State what success looks like.
• If you were a box of cereal on the shelf in a supermarket- what would the box say in order to get customers to choose your box over other boxes of cereal
• Align the Vision with Org Strategy
• Does it have potential to Influence the Org Strategy in the 5 year timeframe? Is it sustainable? Is it long term?
• Can I measure success towards the VIsion?(More on this later)
• Can I communicate the Vision in one simple sentence?

Vision is the Map that creates a Unity for Purpose for everyone involved.

A solid Vision helps us articulate measurable Value. Value is the Compass to your Map.

If we consider Vision as a “map” that outlines your path, Value will can be considered as defining Radiators like- speed, RPMs, the direction of travel, fuel consumption, time taken etcc; you get the drift.

A few good measures of value for product managers include:

• Growth- Customer Acquisition, Revenue, number of downloads etc.
• TCO- Cost of product ownership including Capex, Opex and other costs
• CLV- Customer Lifetime Value, which is also a proxy for profitability
• NPS- Net Promoter Score- The likelihood of your customers to be your promoters. This ranges from -100 to +100 and the goal is to always stay above 0; preferably higher than 50.

This is not an exhaustive list. We often get hung up on execution metrics such as team “velocity”, “milestones”, “hours” spent etc.

A good reference for understanding metrics and evidence based management is the EBMT Guide from Scrum.org:
https://lnkd.in/dGdSEqA

What do you do if your compass is pointing South? Validation is that moment of truth

Let’s look at the third and Final “V” of product management- Valdiation. Every metric is a radiator of Value and despite having tested every assumption, user experience and story, you may still find yourselves unable to move the right needles.

Validation is the process of asking hard questions:

Are we really building the right product?
Are we building the product right?

These questions will either encourage you to Persist on your path or to Pivot to something new. Simple enough? Not always. Many product managers fail to Pivot despite the signs being there. It could be because of:

• Biases
• Stakeholder pressure
• Inability to change
• Fear of Failure

To maximise value, PMs should cut their losses as soon as there is enough empirical evidence to suggest that your’re not achieving desired outcomes- Fail Fast.
PMs should abandon the paths of low/negative and put their product on the path of continuous growth.