“3 Horizons” is a way of thinking about your product portfolio in different time frames: The process you need to run the company’s current cash cow is very different from how you conceive and launch the next cash cow for 3 years down the road. The concept is originally by Geoffrey Moore. Corinna learned most of the 1-pager’s content from a fantastic talk by Markus Andrezak. (All mistakes are hers, not his.)
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Content of the 1-pager:
Consider future innovations as well as current products in your portfolio –
Secure your company’s growth
Horizon 1: Run things smoothly (now – 12 months)
Horizon 1 focusses on what is earning
the company money right now. You want things to
be stable, run smoothly and to improve the process. Agile and Lean both target this timeframe.
Horizon 2: Invalidate solutions (12 – 36 months)
Horizon 2 tries to come up with what will
make the company money in the future. This is a messy, creative process that is usually neither well understood nor well received by people tasked with Horizon 1 duties. When H2 people talk to H1 people without the different time frames and strategies being clear, H1 people will try to protect stability and fend off H2 ideas as “crazy” or “impossible”.
Horizon 3: Invalidate problems (36 – 72 months)
Horizon 3 is more important for big
companies than for small ones. It concentrates on creating options for future growth e.g. by strategic partnerships or hiring.
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