Engineering Vision Template
Template for aligning teams on long-term direction (2-3 years). Copy and fill in each section.
How to Use This Template
- Name the file:
vision-[area]-[end-year].md- Example:
vision-engineering-2028.md
- Example:
- Write 5 strategies first. Can't forecast without solving current problems
- Interview 10+ engineers. Ask: "What's your ideal workflow in 2 years?"
- Fill in each section below. Delete the instructions (gray text) as you write
- Workshop vision statement with 5 people. If they can't repeat it back, simplify
- Share draft org-wide for 1-week feedback window
- Finalize and publish. Review annually
When to use: Teams making independent decisions need alignment. Not for solving current problems (use strategy instead).
Max one vision per area. Engineering = 1 vision, not 5.
Vision: [Area Name] ([End Year])
Owner: [Your name] Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] Review Date: [1 year from now] Status: Draft | Published | Retired
Vision Statement
Instructions: Write 1-2 sentences. Aspirational. Concrete. Repeatable.
Test: Give this to 5 people. If they can't repeat it back in their own words, it's too complex.
Good: "By 2028, any engineer ships production code in their first week. Deploys are invisible. Incidents self-heal."
Bad: "We will leverage cutting-edge technologies to empower our teams to innovate at scale."
Use present tense (write as if it's 2028 now). Be specific.
[Your vision statement]
[1-2 sentences. This should appear in every presentation, doc, and roadmap discussion.]
Value Proposition
Instructions: How does this vision benefit (1) engineers and (2) the company?
Be specific. "Ship faster" is vague. "Ship 10x/day without fear" is concrete.
For Engineers
[3-5 bullet points. What improves for individual contributors?]
Example:
- Onboarding takes 2 days, not 2 months
- Deploy 10x/day without manual steps or fear
- Incidents resolve automatically — no 2am pages
- Focus on features, not infrastructure tickets
For the Company
[3-5 bullet points. What business outcomes does this enable?]
Example:
- Ship features 3x faster (currently 2-week cycle → 3-day cycle)
- Downtime <0.1% annually (currently 0.5%)
- Hire faster (no 6-month ramp → productive in week 1)
- Reduce eng ops cost by 40% (automation replaces manual work)
Capabilities
Instructions: What must the team/product deliver to achieve the vision?
Each capability should be:
- Measurable (not "better DX" but "onboarding in 2 days")
- Feasible (given 2-3 years, not science fiction)
- Aligned (each one supports the vision statement)
Aim for 5-7 capabilities. More = diluted focus.
Capability 1: [Name]
What: [1 sentence description]
Success criteria: [How do we measure success?]
Example:
- What: Self-service infrastructure — engineers provision databases, queues, caches via UI
- Success criteria: 95% of infra requests completed in <60 seconds without tickets
Capability 2: [Name]
[Repeat structure above]
Capability 3: [Name]
[Repeat structure above]
Capability 4: [Name]
[Repeat structure above]
Capability 5: [Name]
[Repeat structure above]
Solved Constraints
Instructions: What problems (that exist today) will disappear in the future state?
Be honest and specific. Use current metrics.
Format: [Current problem] — [Current metric] → [Future state]
Example:
- Manual deploys — Currently 2 hours, break 30% of the time → Automated, zero-downtime, <5 min
- Ticket-based provisioning — Currently 3-day wait for a database → Self-service, <60 seconds
- Tribal knowledge onboarding — Currently 6 weeks before first production commit → Codified, 2 days to first ship
[Your solved constraints]
- [Current problem] — [Current metric] → [Future state]
- [Current problem] — [Current metric] → [Future state]
- [Current problem] — [Current metric] → [Future state]
Future Constraints
Instructions: What NEW problems will you face in the future state?
Every vision has tradeoffs. Be honest. This builds trust.
Format: [New problem] — [Expected impact] — [Mitigation]
Example:
- Infrastructure cost increase — +40% due to self-service over-provisioning — Mitigate with cost dashboards per team
- Monitoring alert fatigue — Auto-rollback creates 10x more alerts — Mitigate with smarter alert routing and ML-based noise reduction
- Security review backlog — Engineers ship faster than security can audit — Mitigate with automated security scanning in CI
[Your future constraints]
- [New problem] — [Expected impact] — [Mitigation]
- [New problem] — [Expected impact] — [Mitigation]
- [New problem] — [Expected impact] — [Mitigation]
Reference Materials
Instructions: Link to supporting docs, research, metrics, case studies.
Shows you did homework. Helps people dive deeper.
- [Link to relevant doc] — [1 sentence description]
- [Link to survey/data] — [Key finding]
- [Link to case study] — [What we learned]
Example:
- Onboarding survey results — 87% of engineers say setup is the slowest part
- Deploy postmortem analysis — 68% of incidents caused by manual deploy steps
- Stripe's self-service infra case study — 5x dev velocity, 2x cost
Narrative
Instructions: Write a 1-page story that brings the vision to life.
Structure:
- Today (before): Paint the current pain. Be specific. Use names, numbers, workflows
- Tomorrow (after): Show the future state. Walk through the same workflow transformed
- How we get there: Briefly mention the 3 key capabilities that enable this
- Tradeoffs: Acknowledge the costs/constraints honestly
- Why it matters: Connect to business outcomes or company mission
Style:
- Present tense (write as if it's 2028 now)
- Concrete (no buzzwords)
- Personal (use "engineer" or "Sarah" not "resources")
- Honest (admit tradeoffs)
[Your narrative]
[Write 1 page. Tell the story of before/after. Make it visceral.]
Example structure:
Today: [Describe current pain in detail. Walk through a workflow. Use specific numbers, timelines, frustrations.]
By [Year]: [Describe the same workflow transformed. Show what changed. Be concrete.]
How we get there: [Mention 3 key capabilities. Keep it brief — you detailed them above.]
The tradeoff: [Admit costs or new constraints. Shows you're realistic.]
Why it matters: [Connect to business impact or mission. "By 2028, shipping code is invisible. Engineers focus on users, not deploys."]
Roadmap (optional)
Instructions: High-level milestones. Not a detailed project plan — just the major phases.
Format: [Quarter/Year] — [Milestone] — [Key deliverable]
Example:
| Timeline | Milestone | Key Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | Self-service infra MVP | Engineers can provision Postgres, Redis, SQS via UI |
| Q4 2026 | Automated rollback beta | Canary deploys auto-rollback on error spike |
| Q2 2027 | Codified onboarding | New engineer ships production code in week 1 |
| Q4 2027 | Full rollout | All teams using self-service + auto-rollback |
| Q2 2028 | Vision achieved | Metrics hit: 2-day onboarding, 10x deploys/day, <0.1% downtime |
Success Metrics
Instructions: How will we know the vision is achieved? Pick 5-7 metrics.
Each metric:
- Baseline (today): Current state
- Target ([end year]): Future state
- How measured: Where does this data come from?
| Metric | Baseline (2026) | Target (2028) | How Measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onboarding time to first production commit | 6 weeks | 2 days | Survey new engineers |
| Deploy frequency per engineer per week | 2 | 10 | Git logs, deploy dashboard |
| Downtime per year | 0.5% | <0.1% | Uptime monitoring |
| Infra provisioning time | 3 days (ticket-based) | <60 seconds | Support ticket volume |
| Incident MTTR | 4 hours | <30 min (auto-heal) | Incident tracker |
Review cadence: Quarterly. Track progress toward targets. Adjust roadmap if needed.
Annual review: Are we on track? Do we need to revise the vision?
FAQ / Alignment
Instructions: Anticipate questions or concerns. Answer them upfront.
Q: How does this align with company strategy? A: [Connect vision to company OKRs, mission, or initiatives]
Q: What if we can't hit 2028 targets? A: [Explain what "good enough" looks like. "If we hit 80% of metrics, we've still 3x'd velocity."]
Q: How do we prioritize between vision work and feature work? A: [Explain resource allocation. "30% of eng time = vision initiatives. 70% = features."]
Q: What if priorities change? A: [Explain review cadence. "We review annually. If business needs shift, we adjust or retire the vision."]
Stakeholder Buy-In
Instructions: Track who reviewed and approved the vision. Shows you built consensus.
| Stakeholder | Role | Feedback | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Name] | CTO | "Love the focus on dev velocity. Concerned about cost." | ✅ Approved |
| [Name] | VP Eng | "Add security constraint to Future Constraints section." | ✅ Approved (updated) |
| [Name] | Staff Eng | "Roadmap timeline too aggressive for Q2 2027." | 🔄 Discussed, adjusted to Q3 |
Review Log
Instructions: Update annually. Track what happened. Honest retrospection builds trust.
[Date] — Initial publish
[1 year later] — Annual review:
- Metrics: [Did we make progress toward targets?]
- Surprises: [What did we learn?]
- Adjustments: [Do we need to revise the vision or roadmap?]
- Next steps: [Continue, adjust, or retire?]
Template Checklist
Before publishing, verify:
- [ ] Vision statement is 1-2 sentences, repeatable, specific
- [ ] Value proposition clear for engineers AND company
- [ ] 5-7 capabilities, each measurable
- [ ] Solved constraints show current metrics → future state
- [ ] Future constraints acknowledge tradeoffs honestly
- [ ] Reference materials support claims with data
- [ ] Narrative is 1 page, tells before/after story
- [ ] Success metrics have baseline + target + measurement plan
- [ ] FAQ addresses likely questions
- [ ] 10+ people reviewed draft (get diverse input)
- [ ] Stakeholder buy-in tracked
- [ ] Annual review date in calendar
Review this vision annually. If teams don't reference it when making decisions, rewrite or retire it.