product-strategy

# Product Strategy A real strategy is not a list of things you want. It's a coherent answer to a hard question: *given our situation, where do we play, how do we win, and what are we deliberately NOT doing?* This skill produces a one-page strategy that connects vision → diagnosis → bets, with the underlying logic that makes the pieces reinforce each other. If you can't say what you're giving up, you don't have a strategy yet. **Grounded in:** *Good Strategy Bad Strategy* — Richard Rumelt: the kernel: diagnosis → guiding policy → coherent action (no goal-lists masquerading as strategy). **Go deeper (The Product Channel):** [The Ultimate Guide to Product Strategy](https://sidsaladi.substack.com/p/week-71-product-strategy-vision-and) ## When to use this - You're asked for "the product strategy" and what you have is a roadmap or a target - Leadership wants a vision but the diagnosis underneath is missing - The team is trying to win everywhere and spreading thin - You need a crisp where-to-play / how-to-win to anchor prioritization and say no - A new market, competitor, or platform shift forces a rethink ## What a real strategy is (and isn't) - **IS:** a diagnosis of the situation (the crux/challenge) + a guiding policy (where to play, how to win) + a coherent set of actions that follow from it (Rumelt's kernel) - **IS:** a set of choices about where to compete and how to win there (Lafley/Martin) - **ISN'T:** a list of goals or OKRs — those are what you want, not how you'll g...