Maturity Models vs. Roadmaps

In the strategist's toolkit, two artifacts reign supreme: the Roadmap and the Maturity Model. While they often overlap in conversations, they serve fundamentally different purposes. Confusing them can lead to strategic misalignment—like trying to navigate a city using a history book.

The Roadmap: The "When" and "What"

A roadmap is a temporal plan. It describes a sequence of events or deliverables over time. It answers the question: "What are we going to do next?"

Roadmaps are about execution. They deal with features, projects, deadlines, and dependencies. They are linear (usually) and are often subject to change based on market conditions, resource availability, and shifting priorities. A roadmap says, "We will launch the mobile app in Q3."

The Maturity Model: The "Where" and "How"

A maturity model is a state-based framework. It describes the quality or capability of an organization at different stages of evolution. It answers the question: "How good are we at doing this?"

Maturity models are about capability. They deal with behaviors, processes, culture, and tooling. They are hierarchical and define a path of evolution from "Ad Hoc" to "Optimized." A maturity model says, "To be a Level 3 organization, we must have automated testing coverage of 80%."

How They Work Together

The magic happens when you link them. A maturity model without a roadmap is just a wish list. A roadmap without a maturity model is just a to-do list without a destination.

Your Maturity Model defines the destination (e.g., "We want to be Level 4 in Automated Testing"). Your Roadmap defines the journey (e.g., "Q1: Implement CI/CD pipeline," "Q2: Write unit tests for core modules").

Conclusion

Don't choose between a roadmap and a maturity model. Use both. Use the maturity model to set your strategic north star, and use the roadmap to plot the course to get there.