A long list is not a plan
Almost every product team has a backlog. A list of features, ideas, bugs, requests, improvements — stacked up in a tool somewhere, sometimes growing for years.
Backlogs are useful. They’re also frequently mistaken for strategy. A long, organised backlog feels like a plan. The team thinks they’re focused, because there’s a clear order to what comes next.
But a backlog tells you what you might build. It doesn’t tell you why you’re building, who it’s for, or how each item moves the product forward.
Strategy is what surrounds the backlog. Without strategy, the backlog isn’t a plan. It’s a queue.
How backlogs replace strategy
The slip from “we have a strategy” to “we have a backlog” happens gradually.
It starts with the best intentions. Someone proposes an idea. It goe...
