The Power of Someday Maybe

In the fast-paced world of software development, product backlogs can become a team’s heaviest burden. Ideas flood in from designers, developers, product managers, customers, and stakeholders, each eager to shape the product’s future. But when the backlog swells with tasks stretching far beyond the horizon, it overwhelms the team, draining motivation and blurring focus. The urge to slash the backlog for clarity is strong, yet discarding ideas risks stifling creativity and discouraging contributors. There’s a smarter solution: the “Someday Maybe” list. This simple, powerful tool captures the spark of innovation without derailing the present, striking a balance between focus and possibility.

A sprawling backlog is a quiet morale killer. When tasks pile up, projecting months or years of work, team members feel buried under an endless list. A developer might face a backlog crammed with 200 issues, many irrelevant to the product’s current goals, and question whether their efforts will ever break through. When ideas misaligned with immediate objectives clutter the list, they pull attention away from what matters most. The instinct to cull the backlog makes sense, but it’s a blunt tool. Valuable ideas, even if not timely, deserve better treatment.

The “Someday Maybe”, often attributed to David Allen’s Getting Things Done, offers a dedicated space for ideas that don’t fit the moment but hold future potential. Instead of forcing every suggestion into the product backlog or tossing it aside, teams can park these ideas in a separate document. This approach uses two complementary structures: a shared team document for ideas everyone agrees are worth revisiting, and individual documents where contributors can privately refine bold or unconventional thoughts. Imagine a designer inspired to propose an AI-driven analytics tool. It’s a compelling idea, but it doesn’t serve the current goal of streamlining core functionality. Rather than dismissing it or clogging the backlog, they note it in their personal “Someday Maybe” list, preserving the concept without distracting the team. This dual structure ensures no idea fades, even if it’s too ambitious for immediate agreement.

Managing this system demands a lightweight, disciplined process. Begin by asking team members to review the backlog and advocate for issues they believe have lasting value. These might include technical debt fixes, like optimizing a sluggish database query, or product features, like a user feedback system. Move these to the shared “Someday Maybe” list if they don’t align with current objectives. Every quarter, the team reviews this shared list, removing entries that are now irrelevant, such as technical debt addressed in a recent update or features tied to an outdated product area. Individuals can use their private lists to jot down fleeting ideas without pressure, refining them until they’re ready to share. When new objectives emerge, like scaling the product for enterprise users, the team revisits both lists, asking, “How might this idea advance our new goal?” Ideas that pass this test can be prioritized into the active backlog or queued for further exploration.

This approach excels in managing technical debt and product innovation. For technical debt, the shared list might hold agreed-upon issues, like streamlining an API endpoint, while individual lists capture quick notes while in the flow of writing code without worrying about how to pitch the concept to the team. For product ideas, the “Someday Maybe” list becomes a goldmine when strategic shifts occur, often kickstarting discovery. By keeping the product backlog lean, focused solely on work tied to current objectives, teams avoid the paralysis of an overstuffed list. Contributors still feel valued, their ideas preserved rather than dismissed, fostering a culture where creativity thrives without chaos.

The benefits reach beyond process to culture and strategy. For teams, the “Someday Maybe” list builds trust, signaling that every voice matters, even if not every idea is acted on now. Developers and designers stay engaged, knowing their contributions aren’t lost. For clients, this approach delivers focused, high-impact results while preserving a reservoir of ideas for future iterations. It’s counterintuitive: by sidelining some ideas, teams achieve more, not less. A lean backlog ensures critical features launch on time, delighting users, while the “Someday Maybe” list keeps the door open for future breakthroughs. This balance transforms backlog management from a burden into a driver of progress.

The beauty of a “Someday Maybe” list lies in its promise of possibility without pressure. It redefines backlog management as a disciplined yet liberating act, aligning with the adaptive, human-centered nature of modern software development. Teams stay focused on what matters today, delivering value with clarity and speed, while nurturing the seeds of tomorrow’s innovations. By embracing this approach, organizations unlock the full power of their team’s ideas, ensuring no spark fades and every goal gets the focus it deserves.