This is about the word roadmap.

I hardly ever use it myself but I've heard it a lot over the years: usually at work, to do with a plan for something or the future of a technology. Lately it's in the news about the way out of Covid lockdown.

When there was talk about roadmaps I seldom knew what was wanted. A Gantt chart? A plan? A presentation? A list of guiding principles? Or what?

It's often a hopeless metaphor. For two reasons.

The obvious is that a roadmap is not a route. Or a trip itinerary. But an itinerary - where we will be by when - is often the thing people want. (Despite the talk of "data not dates", it is what is on the front pages of most papers today.)

Less obvious, and much more relevant, is that roadmaps presume the traversing of a network of roads. But what if we were actually in a jungle?

In that case, the idea of roadmap would be ridiculous, right?

When there is metaphoric talk of roadmaps the real job is not about producing maps but about appropriately helping people deal with uncertainty.

Photo: Luke Jones