Company and product strategy are often under-rated.
It seems obvious that a company strategy is a critical factor to success, yet many companies are either dilute in their strategy or lack one altogether. Unfortunately, that leads to decisions and actions that ultimately waste time and are counter to success. Every decision becomes harder because the options are limitless. Multiply that by every leader in the company. Multiply that again by conflicting ideas, and cascade that throughout the organization. You can imagine the scale of time and effort spent on unnecessary thoughts and actions.
This can mean one of three things for your product strategy:
- You have to cover a lot more ground with your product strategy, compensating for lack of company strategy.
- Your product strategy is not as strong as it could be, becoming one that is more focused on multiple de-risking options rather than a view based on data and desired outcomes.
- You give up on product strategy, becoming a team that is building features based on the loudest voices.
You might ask why any company would choose this approach. In my experience, it comes down to the overall belief system of the company leaders. Some don’t believe that strategy is useful or valuable, some think they have a clear strategy already, some are afraid to commit because they believe that a strategy is set in stone. The reality is that none of the above is true.
As a product leader, what can you do in this situation?
Building a product strategy when the company is lacking strategy is a challenging and frustrating place to be. You find yourself trying to rally senior executives, preaching about the importance of alignment, and asking a lot of uncomfortable questions that are not always well received. You can go down the path of creating a product strategy in isolation, but there’s a good chance that you’re making assumptions about key business priorities, effectively building a product that conflicts with where the company wants to go. You could also choose to land in the middle, creating a temperate product strategy that lacks clarity but has a general overall direction that is in line with what you know of the business. None of these are ideal, but honestly, I have yet to meet a company that operates in a purely idealistic way. Here are some things you can do to make it better:
- Push for clarity.
Who is the company today, who do they want to be, where do they play, how do they win?
This is probably the most difficult approach (more so if you don’t have a seat at the executive table) but usually the most rewarding if you’re successful. It can create a clear company vision and strategy that is built by leadership and establishes your strategic voice.
Often in this case, the company doesn’t believe they need a strategy or is not aligned on what is most important. An approach that was inspired by Gibson Biddle’s GEM model is one of my favorite ways to gain alignment. Ask members of leadership about strategy and stack-ranked priorities in isolation. Every time I have gone through this exercise, the leaders assume they are aligned but the results show significant differences in opinion. Chart their answers collectively to illustrate the degree of misalignment and share it with the group. Their surprise opens the door to an uncomfortable but polarizing discussion that contributes to clarity. Best case, it leads to a series of strategic discussions and strong company strategy with alignment and buy in from leadership. Alternatively, they might not come to something that is clear enough for you. You need to be able to operate with what they give you – it won’t be perfect, but it should be better than what you started with. Remember that this takes time, persistence, and some strong facilitation acumen. Not every team will be open to this approach or be in a place to participate effectively.
- Propose One via Data & Research Available.
It is often easier for a team to refute a strategy than create one. Look at factors like the current and future market, competitive landscape, company dynamics and economic factors and create recommendations. Let the executive team agree or disagree with what you’ve put forward. Take their feedback and iterate until you have more clarity. Make sure you record all key business decisions made and communicate them frequently. When done well, this approach can set you up as the strategic voice in the company, leading the way in strategic decision making. The difficulty lies in getting buy-in and alignment. When folks are less involved in the process, they don’t feel as strongly in their ownership of it. You need to ensure that they are fully bought in and communicate the strategy frequently across the company so that you don’t become a lone voice or alignment will disappear quickly.
- Be Pragmatic.
If you can’t get better consensus or clarity, you will need to use your research and recommendations to frame a pragmatic product strategy. Based on your research, what are some key principles that you can use to frame your product strategy? Remember that a great strategy is also about what not to do. Are there clear options that you can take off the table? Are there broad categories or options that support multiple outcomes? What steps can you take to de-risk decisions made here? Communicate your product strategy to the executive team before sharing broadly and ask for their support. This is not ideal, but at least you will have key principles to work from and it is the least scary option for a team that doesn’t believe in strategy or is worried about committing.
One thing you can do tomorrow.
If you find yourself in a situation without a product strategy or one that doesn’t allow for clear decision-making, you can start as you would in any product decision. Collecting feedback and observations. Here are a set of questions to start with:
- What is the executive appetite for company strategy?
- Are the major players aligned?
- Do they tell you they have a strategy in place already? What is it?
- Are they excited to create a strategy?
- How do they respond when you ask questions about it?
Use these observations to inform your next steps. This is your opportunity to show them your strategic thinking and build a better product strategy in the process.
Operating in a product leadership role without a clear company strategy is challenging but more common than you might think. Even though it can be frustrating, use this as an opportunity to establish your strategic expertise at the organization. If you do it well, not only will you come out of it with better product strategy, but you will also have contributed significantly to the success of the company, setting yourself up for success in the long run.
Guest author: Jennifer Spanos, VP Product Management at AudienceView.
Jennifer is a seasoned product executive with more than 18 years of experience in product management and operations. With expertise spanning Enterprise B2B, B2B SaaS and B2B2C models, Jennifer manages product portfolios with a product-led approach, driving growth, global market expansion and strategic partnerships. You can find her here. Thank you Jennifer!
If you are a seasoned product leader and are interested in getting your voice heard by guest-authoring on the Product Rebels blog, contact us.
If you’re interested in getting help in establishing your product strategy, feel free to contact Product Rebels.
Product Rebels is a product management coaching firm run by a team of long-term product executives for companies like Intuit and Mitchell International. We have coached over 200 companies, small and enterprise level, in the skills and frameworks that help product management leaders and product managers deliver kick-ass customer experiences. We have a passion for finding efficient ways of infusing customer insight into everything product teams do in pursuit of experiences that customers love …and that drive growth. Contact us if you’d like an assessment of your PM teams strengths and areas of opportunities or if you want to bolster product management best practices that are proven to drive growth. Join us in the Product Rebels Community on Facebook or the Product Rebels Community on LinkedIn.