Etym.from Middle English road plus map, literal cartography elevated to managerial jargon in the late twentieth century by consultants who preferred implication to obligation; see H. L. Quimby, Corporate Cartography, 1998.

A prioritized sequence of nonbinding milestones and vague timelines that converts specific commitments into negotiable intentions, facilitating blame diffusion and delayed delivery.

'Can you circulate the roadmap by Friday, even if it is high level?' - Q3 All-Hands Transcript

Etym.From L. scala, 'ladder', repurposed into corporate parlance circa 2010 by a consulting associate who needed a word that implied growth without immediate budgeting, see Henley, Corporate Metaphors, 2014.

To defer investment decisions and accountability by framing operational expansion as an inevitable future state rather than a present cost.

'We will scale next quarter' - Q3 Board Deck, slide 12