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During the journey to take a new proposition to market, nuances of progress are not seen and understood by everyone, which can lead to frustration and misjudgements. There must be ways to correct this.

Like many kids, mine disliked car journeys and, like many parents, we became all too familiar with that most difficult of questions: "Are we nearly there yet?". The simple answer was usually: "No!". The common problem that causes so many kids to ask this question, is that they don't have the frames of reference to understand progress on the journey. Kids will be frustrated if they just see an endless series of roads, turnings, intersections, and have no way of understanding the progress these represent.

Over the years, I have sat in many board meetings, and heard the question "Have we made any sales yet?". The similarity is striking. The management team have been busting a gut all month, but the question from the investors and outside directors is the same as it was at the last meeting. Taking a new proposition to market is usually a long and complex challenge, with many stages that must be successfully travelled before reaching the destination of actual sales. Anyone that doesn't see these stages, will not understand the challenges, the achievements or the progress being made, and this can lead to misunderstandings and frustration all round the boardroom table.

Much of the difficulty lies in the fact that marketing and business development stages are, by their nature, nuanced and somewhat subjective. Progress can often only be judged by the behaviour of prospects, by their sense of urgency and the effort they put in. These things are hard to measure, and harder to convey, but they do say a great deal about progress. Going to market can also be a complex undertaking, with lots of actions on a wide front. This, too, can be difficult to capture in a way that can easily be measured and conveyed to people who're not involved and not familiar with all that's involved.

Yet this rich picture must be understood by Management, and they would be wise to be able to convey what's going on to the stakeholders and others involved in the business. Ways must be found to identify non-numerate, more subjective achievements. Without understanding, progress will be opaque, support will be harder to come by when it's needed, and frustration and cynicism will become entrenched. 

The journey the business is undertaking must be well understood, the individual hurdles should be identified, and the whole map laid out, so that the navigation of the journey, its challenges and its staging points are visible, This will give clarity and context during the journey, progress will be understood, and achievement recognised.  I've rarely seen this done in business plans or boardrooms, which is why those tedious questions about sales keep being asked.

Of course, the journey to market isn't a simple one and the precise route may get changed along the way as local traffic jams and road works become known, and as unforeseen opportunities emerge like new pieces of dual carriageway. Unlike the of a relatively simple car journey, the individual wins and successes in taking a new proposition to market often present themselves in an unexpected sequence, but this shouldn't be a barrier to presenting the significant events, their context and value. Without understanding the twists and turns and what they mean, Management risks taking wrong turns, burning valuable time and fuel, and the kids in the back will continue to ask that age old question.

(c) 2010, 2011 Peter G. Osborn