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I'm fed up with roadmaps!

They don't help me achieve my goals and create unnecessary stress.

But I might have found a more playful way than setting milestones.

I am not the only one with this problem.

When I used traditional roadmaps with my team in the past, the negative effects were clear.

The team doesn't know where to start with a goal.
They end up in an analysis paralysis, worrying about how to reach the goal.
And in the blink of an eye, the quarter is over, and they scramble to get any results at all to present.

My whole team got stalled using such archaic roadmaps.

Is there a stress-free way to reach my goals and make the path my business will take clear for everyone involved?

First of all, I want to work experiment-based.

This gives me hard evidence and makes decision-making effortless.

If a method doesn't work, I will know immediately and can try the next thing.
If something works, I get data to rely on for later planning besides the success.

Also, running a bunch of experiments is a lot more fun than worrying about goals.

Failing to reach a goal is frustrating.

Experiments can't fail; they can only have unexpected results.

Getting unexpected results is learning, which is the essence of a growth mindset.

I have worked experiment-based but haven't fully integrated it into my business planning.

This quarter, I turned all my goals into experiments from the start.

There are no more deadlines, only new things to learn.

Here is my new business planning process step-by-step:

I turn all goals ("at time x we reach y.”) into hypotheses ("until time x we know if y is true.”)
Then, I take each hypothesis and think about its outcomes.
- What will I do if this is true?
- What will I do if this is false?
These are new hypotheses leading me closer to my ultimate goals.
For example, if I can't attract 3 paying customers from my network for my new SaaS project this quarter, I will scrap it.
But, if I get these 3 customers, I will launch it on Product Hunt and try to get 20 more customers from there.
Lastly, I visualized all my hypotheses in a branching flow chart.
I end up with a map of my future.

With this new experiment roadmap, I now know exactly what to do without the stress of failing.

I literally can't fail with this method.

I might take a different path to my goal, but eventually, I will reach it as long as I keep walking.

And the best part about it is that I have fun learning new things along the way.

So far, following my branching path of experiments has been incredibly freeing.

I find more creative solutions because I'm not narrow-mindedly following a single road.

Try it yourself when you plan your next quarter.

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A more playful approach to business planning