Write less
I've always been interested in how some of the best rappers are known for not writing their lyrics down when composing. As a method of making, I believe this technique produces a number of advantages in the final product:
Rhymes tend not to be overly technical or too clever. The flows are catchy by nature, because memory is used to produce them. During creation, they are not subjected to being judged on a medium that isn’t the final product. The final performance can end up feeling 'off the cuff'.
If I told you to ‘write out as much as possible around the thinking, learnings and decisions when planning your product development’, that would sound like a responsible thing to do.
It would probably be a great way to build alignment, communicate topics that have been discussed, and provide a resource for those with questions.
But I have a sense none of that is exactly true.
Messy process
Product design and development is a messy process. Ideas evolve with every conversation. Surprising realizations can occur when you build the thing and put it in peoples' hands. Plans change. Scope changes. Goals change. People change.
In fact, if things aren’t changing, you likely aren’t making progress.
Wasted effort
That’s why I think it is somewhat inefficient to attempt to plan responsibly. The more effort you put into a mature and coherent development plan, the more likely it is you have wasted that effort. It simply won’t happen the way you intend.
Sometimes more effort can go into the writing of documents than the value that is extracted from them. In my experience, people simply don’t read them. They still ask the same questions. They still have the same concerns.
Principles, not deadlines
On the other hand, if you know what problem you are trying to solve and have conviction it is real, you have everything you need to get started designing and building.
Setting meaningful deadlines is usually unrealistic, or at the very least unnecessarily stressful. You don’t know what’s going to happen along the way.
What does matter is alignment around what you believe and how to build it. Find alignment in the values you are expressing through your product. They will act as guardrails to focus decisions towards the same end goal.
Rather than creating a forced structure which will inevitably fail; write less. Trust that everyone will be motivated and try their best. Trust you will get it done when it solves the problem you've defined.
You can worry less about the mess you are making and stay flexible in the moment, because the team is trying to build towards the same thing.