Lenny's Newsletter · Product & Work
TIER 5 2022-10-18
> ## Q: How do strategy, vision, mission, goals, and roadmap all work together? Where should I start? First, some definitions: - **Mission:** What are we trying to achieve? - **Vision:** What does the world look like when we’ve achieved it? - **Strategy:** What’s our plan for achieving it, i.e. what’s our plan to win? - **Goals:** How will we measure progress? - **Roadmap:** What do we need to build in order to get there? - **Task:** What’s one unit of work we can tackle next?  #### Where should you start? Normally you start with your **mission**—why does your team (or company) even exist? What are you trying to achieve? What is your purpose? Some examples of great missions: 1. **Tesla**: “Accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” 2. **TED**: “Spread ideas.” 3. **Stripe:** “Increase the GDP of the internet.” 4. **IKEA**: “Create a better everyday life for the many people.” 5. **Patagonia**: “Use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” 6. **Slack:** “Make work life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.” 7. **Google:** “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” 8. **World Wildlife Fund:** “Conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.” 9. **Nike:** “Do everything possible to expand human potential.” 10. **Square:** “Make commerce easy.” #### Vision Next comes your **vision:** What does the world (or your product) look like when you’ve achieved your mission? Some examples of great **vision** statements: 1. **Microsoft: “**A computer on every desk and in every home.” 2. **Alzheimer’s Association**: “A world without Alzheimer’s disease.” 3. **Teach for America: “**One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.” 4. **Tesla:** “Create the most compelling car company of the 21st century.” 5. **Lyft:** “A world where cities feel small again. Where transportation and tech bring people together, instead of apart.” 6. **Netflix:** “Become the best global entertainment distribution service.” If you start with your vision before your mission, that’s totally OK. Elon Musk likely started with a vision of the world he wanted to see and then developed his mission around that. No problem. Don’t overthink it. #### Strategy Once you have your mission and vision, this is where **strategy** comes in. Your strategy is simply your plan to achieve your vision—your plan to win. [I’ve written about getting better at strategy](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/getting-better-at-product-strategy), and, to boil it down, a strategy is essentially a short description of your plan, with 3 to 5 concrete investments that, if you get right, will bring you closer to winning (i.e. achieving your vision). [Here are some templates](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/683946/strategy) to help you frame your thinking. Here are some high-level examples of **strategies**: 1. **Tesla:** Build a high-priced sports car → Use that revenue to build an affordable car → Use that revenue to build an even more affordable car → While doing so, also provide zero-emission electric power 2. **Uber:** Launch Uber Black → Bring prices down by launching UberX → Bring prices down by launching Uber Pool → Bring prices down by launching scooters, bikes, etc. 3. **[Substack](https://on.substack.com/p/one-million-strong):** Build powerful publishing tools for writers → Help writers become better writers through value-add services → Grow their audience through network effects Additional examples of great real-life strategies: 1. **[GitLab](https://about.gitlab.com/company/strategy/)**: Notice the clear mission, vision, and three-part strategy. 2. **[Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-create-alignment-within-your-company.html)**: Simple, but tells you exactly what needs to be done. 3. **[Yahoo’s “peanut butter” memo](https://sriramk.com/memos/garlinghouse-peanut-butter.pdf):** Notice how clearly this identifies the problem, and includes a three-part strategy. (Also, it’s obviously memorable since it’s now known as the “Peanut Butter Manifesto.”) 4. **[Tesla](https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux)**: Notice the narrative style, the detailed identification of the problems, and the very simple, ambitious yet clear four-step strategy at the end. [Teresa Torres’s opportunity solution tree](https://www.producttalk.org/opportunity-solution-tree/) framework is a great way to think through, and communicate, your strategy:  #### Goals Next, you can begin to define your **goal**. Goals are simply a way to measure the progress of your strategy toward achieving your ultimate vision. Some examples of visions and their associated goals: 1. **Microsoft:** A computer on every desk and in every home → X% of homes with a computer 2. **Teach for America:** One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education → X% of children with education 3. **Alzheimer’s Association**: A world without Alzheimer’s disease → X% decrease in Alzheimer’s cases [Here’s my advice on setting goals](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/403468/how-to-set-goals) and on [choosing your North Star metric](https://future.com/north-star-metrics/). #### Roadmap And finally, once you have your goals, you can align around and prioritize a **roadmap**. [Here’s a template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zlx3RuidNOW40Zf7gh07p2SqoR53Ungv9JFT-PhHwxI/edit#gid=184965050) you can use.  Within the roadmap, you break out individual **tasks**,the atomic unit of work for your teammates. Why do you need goals before you align around a roadmap and prioritize tasks? Because when prioritizing the many ideas your team has, you look at the ROI—the effort vs. the impact. The *impact* you’re prioritizing against is based on how much you expect the project will impact your *goals*. That’s basically your plan as a product team, from the 10,000-foot mission to the day-to-day work of your team.  As an example, here’s how it all fits together in the case of Tesla:  And finally, let’s look at another “real-life” example: ## Mission → Vision → Strategy → Goals → Roadmap → Task, as taught to us by *Oceans Eleven*  ### Mission: Rob the Bellagio, Mirage, and MGM Grand casinos, and get back at rival Terry Benedict  ### Vision: Great wealth (and get back with Tess)  ### Strategy: Get into casino cage → get through doors with code that changes every 12 hours → Get into an elevator that requires fingerprints and vocal verification → Get past two guards with Uzis → Get into the vault that all three casinos share → Steal money → Get away  ### Goal: Walk out with $150,000,000  ### Roadmap: Build a team of ~~10~~11, do reconnaissance at the Bellagio, find all of the routes in and out, tap into the power system, hack the security systems, create a precise replica of the vault, get security codes, find transportation, practice maneuvering through security systems, execute the plan, escape  ### Task: Arrive at the casino  ### It’s a wrap 💰  P.S. If you haven’t seen the movie, [it’s on Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/60021783). ### 📚 Further study 1. [Getting better at product strategy](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/getting-better-at-product-strategy) 2. [Prioritizing](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/prioritizing) 3. [Setting goals](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/415982/how-to-set-goals) 4. [My favorite product management templates](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/my-favorite-templates-issue-37) *Have a fulfilling and productive week 🙏* ## 📣 Join Lenny’s Talent Collective 📣 If you’re hiring, [join Lenny’s Talent Collective](https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent/welcome) to start getting weekly drops of world-class hand-curated product and growth people who are open to new opportunities.  If you’re looking for a new gig, join to get personalized opportunities from hand-selected companies. You can join publicly or anonymously, and leave anytime. [Apply Now](https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent/welcome) ## **🧠 Inspiration for the week ahead** 1. **Read:** [50 ways to be ridiculously generous—and feel ridiculously good](https://www.youcangetitdone.com/post/50-ways) 2. **Read:** [Stay in the Game](https://www.albertbridgecapital.com/post/stay-in-the-game) 3. **Read:** [Rules for SaaS Pricing](https://earlygtm.substack.com/p/rules-for-saas-pricing) **If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with friends, or subscribing if you haven’t already.** Sincerely, Lenny 👋