Great post to kick off what is sure to be a really helpful series. I love the simplicity of the definition "Strategy is “a long-term plan based on consequential decisions designed to deliver higher customer value than other alternatives.” Given how much of strategy is based on "what we know now" and as time goes on there is regularly "new information" I think it's important to balance the "long-term"ness with the concept that this is all our best guess based on the current vantage point. Strategy must be both "long-term" and "evolving," right?
Cassie: I think that is a good point. Yes, strategy should not be fixed for too long; it should be evolving or dynamic over time. The biggest "new info" or unknown is what competitors (including new entrants) actually do versus your predictions. But Step 1 is having an initial strategy (which many teams don't have). And yes, we while should revisit it as new information warrants, we should avoid changing direction more frequently than warranted (another mistake that teams make).
Thank you for starting this series. Currently on the struggle bus with this exact topic. Trying to influence an organization on strategy and subsequent delivery when silos are preventing the holistic, intended goal. If an org sees itself as Engineering Led, how do you influence them to do so with Product Strategy at the helm? Is that even possible?
Lesley: getting a silo'd org to think and act more holistically is definitely a challenge. If the org sees itself as Engineering Led, then one tactic I'd suggest would be to try to get the Eng leader's buy in that a holistic strategy would be valuable. You could try to explain how this should lead to better use of eng resources, fewer one-off projects, a higher degree of coordination, and better outcomes. Hope that helps. Good luck!
Thanks Dan. This is a real good start as like you said the word 'strategy' is used at every chance and lot of times it is confused with tactical decisions. Thanks for articulating the definition. Quite crisply. Looking forward to follow up posts.
Great post to kick off what is sure to be a really helpful series. I love the simplicity of the definition "Strategy is “a long-term plan based on consequential decisions designed to deliver higher customer value than other alternatives.” Given how much of strategy is based on "what we know now" and as time goes on there is regularly "new information" I think it's important to balance the "long-term"ness with the concept that this is all our best guess based on the current vantage point. Strategy must be both "long-term" and "evolving," right?
Cassie: I think that is a good point. Yes, strategy should not be fixed for too long; it should be evolving or dynamic over time. The biggest "new info" or unknown is what competitors (including new entrants) actually do versus your predictions. But Step 1 is having an initial strategy (which many teams don't have). And yes, we while should revisit it as new information warrants, we should avoid changing direction more frequently than warranted (another mistake that teams make).
Thank you for starting this series. Currently on the struggle bus with this exact topic. Trying to influence an organization on strategy and subsequent delivery when silos are preventing the holistic, intended goal. If an org sees itself as Engineering Led, how do you influence them to do so with Product Strategy at the helm? Is that even possible?
Lesley: getting a silo'd org to think and act more holistically is definitely a challenge. If the org sees itself as Engineering Led, then one tactic I'd suggest would be to try to get the Eng leader's buy in that a holistic strategy would be valuable. You could try to explain how this should lead to better use of eng resources, fewer one-off projects, a higher degree of coordination, and better outcomes. Hope that helps. Good luck!
Thanks Dan. This is a real good start as like you said the word 'strategy' is used at every chance and lot of times it is confused with tactical decisions. Thanks for articulating the definition. Quite crisply. Looking forward to follow up posts.
Waiting for the next one!
Amazing read and looking forward to improve my knowledge on product strategy.
Thoughtful start, Dan — but we’re still politely ignoring the crime scene:
Most 'strategies' aren’t strategies because nobody has the guts to pick a villain.
No villain, no battle. No battle, no plan. Just a laminated wish list stapled to next year’s fiscal hangover.
Hopefully we can get you to take a swing at this in Part 2