4 ms·

Product planning is just a waste of time.

7 points by hajrice 17y ago

ZachPruckowski 17y ago
"No plan survives contact with the enemy" more or less sums this up. I see it as a trade-off - you do need a lot of flexibility to adapt to unexpected things and disappointments and successes, but at the same time, you need to make good decisions fast. Planning is basically speculative decision-making, and that's valuable. The kind of planning that I think works better is a web-style plan - less focused plans that cover more contingencies and are applicable in different circumstances. Have a general idea of what to do as a response to major stimuli, and have some ideas of things which build well upon each other. "Well, if we have a lot of users, we can leverage that to do X" is a plan that works somewhat independently of how you got those users, for instance. "If we wind up needing to boost traffic at some point, our ace-in-hole can be Y", or "If Z happens, we can capitalize on that by doing Q".
ajg1977 17y ago
Instead of an excess of planning it sounds more like the author approached his startup without any real plan whatsoever. After attributing failure to spending three months on mockups and market research before doing any actual development, the author concludes with: After the past experiences I don’t plan anything. I don’t even do market research... We just jump in and start developing, after doing some sorta brainstorming(what features we should add, etc). We ask a couple of target users what they think and decide whether we’re gonna add that feature or not. No, you ARE still making plans, they just happen to be ones that are better and more appropriate.
- hajrice 17y ago
  You didn't really realize the point of the post. The point is you can't plan on "third-party factors" nor can you plan on how the product will "act" a lot upfront. You kinda just have to dive in and feel the vibe.
  - ajg1977 17y ago
    If there was a point to be gleamed I think it's more that planning should drive your goals, not planning just for the sake of having a plan. Guess what: "Dive in and feel the vibe" is still a plan.
a-priori 17y ago
"Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential" -- Winston Churchill
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
jpwagner 17y ago
Did he mean: "Poor product planning is just a waste of time."

7 points by hajrice 17y ago

"No plan survives contact with the enemy" more or less sums this up. I see it as a trade-off - you do need a lot of flexibility to adapt to unexpected things and disappointments and successes, but at the same time, you need to make good decisions fast. Planning is basically speculative decision-making, and that's valuable. The kind of planning that I think works better is a web-style plan - less focused plans that cover more contingencies and are applicable in different circumstances. Have a general idea of what to do as a response to major stimuli, and have some ideas of things which build well upon each other. "Well, if we have a lot of users, we can leverage that to do X" is a plan that works somewhat independently of how you got those users, for instance. "If we wind up needing to boost traffic at some point, our ace-in-hole can be Y", or "If Z happens, we can capitalize on that by doing Q".

ajg1977 17y ago

Instead of an excess of planning it sounds more like the author approached his startup without any real plan whatsoever. After attributing failure to spending three months on mockups and market research before doing any actual development, the author concludes with: After the past experiences I don’t plan anything. I don’t even do market research... We just jump in and start developing, after doing some sorta brainstorming(what features we should add, etc). We ask a couple of target users what they think and decide whether we’re gonna add that feature or not. No, you ARE still making plans, they just happen to be ones that are better and more appropriate.

hajrice 17y ago
You didn't really realize the point of the post. The point is you can't plan on "third-party factors" nor can you plan on how the product will "act" a lot upfront. You kinda just have to dive in and feel the vibe.
- ajg1977 17y ago
  If there was a point to be gleamed I think it's more that planning should drive your goals, not planning just for the sake of having a plan. Guess what: "Dive in and feel the vibe" is still a plan.

a-priori 17y ago

"Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential" -- Winston Churchill

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

jpwagner 17y ago

Did he mean: "Poor product planning is just a waste of time."