Sitting in my kitchen on a rainy Sunday morning envisioning the strategic planning process for FY'14 already.  Which begs the question - why now?  Is it intrinsic to the Product Management position to be forever forward facing?  Or is it simply the age old struggle of pre-planning due to a lack of current data? 

To the second question, I share as I've shared with many of my fellow Product Managers that one of the struggles with the profession of product management is being a change agent of the future while living in your past.   Depending upon the business you are in and development lifecycle that your product uses the product manager is typically wrapping up their road map 4-18 months ahead of a software release. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, daily issues abound with the current product- promotions, campaigns, maybe even a defect or two and certainly a host of user groups and call report sessions.  Like the specter of the 'Ghost of Products Past' the versions walk in and out of our lives.   But the profession demands that Product Managers keep pushing forward because when we stopping championing change and focus solely on the present the 'Ghost of Product Future' is there to bitch slap you.   You will find your product being called dated (the equivalent of being told your baby is ugly), lacking innovation or 'behind'. So the profession demands that you keep championing change in your organization and that you help others in your organization envision the future that you are moving towards. 


But why FY14, why now?  It is very easy to retrieve a lot of data and present it on a slide.   But translating Big Data from multiple source and tying them together to create a story takes time.   Additionally,  all too many product managers provide a strategic plan that only focuses on 'what we did',  'what the competitors did' and 'what we want to do'.   

A strong plan should include anticipating where the competitors will go (this requires a deep understanding of the competitor's value chain), a harsh look at 'how did we perform' and an analysis that includes a deep product life cycle review across the entire product portfolio.  The strategy should be built brick by brick according to the life cycle of each offering. Only after this deep analysis can you truly begin to develop an overall strategy at the company level for your plan.