Musings on Product Strategy

Internet is full of good, bad and vague definitions of Product Strategy. Often, it is equated with a high-level planning, big-picture, alignment, long-term goals, product roadmap, prioritization, vision, ambition and what not.

IMHO, to define ‘Product Strategy’ or even any type of strategy – marketing, sales, or growth, it is important to first absorb the definition of ‘Strategy’.

Good Strategy does not pop out of some “strategic management” tool, matrix, chart, triangle, or fill-in-the-blanks scheme. Instead, a talented leader identifies the one or two critical issues in the situation—the pivot points that can multiply the effectiveness of effort—and then focuses and concentrates action and resources on them.

Richard Rumelt ( Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters)

As per Richard, Strategy is about “discovering the critical factors in a situation and designing a way of coordinating and focusing actions to deal with those factors.”

Hamilton Hemler, in his book ‘7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy’ provides an even simpler definition –

Strategy is a route to continuing Power in significant markets

Hamilton Hemler (7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy)

Both the definitions are succinct, however, I find Richard’s definition more apt to define Product Strategy.

Discovering the critical factors in a situation and designing a way of coordinating and focusing actions to deal with those factors.

This definition has three key aspects aka. elements of the kernel of a strategy – Diagnosis, Guiding Policy and Coherent Action, that are important to define Product Strategy too.

A Product Strategy, therefore –

A. Honestly acknowledges & describes the challenges user, customer or a business faces.
B. Channelize focus on the critical business problems the product / features can meaningfully impact.
C. Sets a coherent and coordinated action plan for the product team(s) which also includes resource and budget allocation
D. Defines metrics to measure the progress & results

Product strategy acts as a connecting bridge between your product vision & the coherent execution by the product teams.

Although it is difficult, but if I have to summarize this in one line, I would like to think of Product Strategy as – A coherent set of actions that focuses a product team’s effort in diagnosing critical business challenges and achieving business outcomes.