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Steering through Strategy Spirals

Steering through Strategy Spirals

Ibrahim Bashir

May 19, 2022
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  1. Ibrahim Bashir
    May 2022: Madrid

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  2. Steering
    through
    Strategy
    Spirals

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  3. A
    Mystery
    for PM
    Detectives
    to Solve
    Steering
    through
    Strategy
    Spirals

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  4. North
    Star
    Metric

    for an API
    data product
    ...

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  5. Customers
    do “stuff”, no end-user visibility
    Clues

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  6. Revenue
    is what leadership team cares about
    Clues

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  7. Product
    Constraints

    have to be
    respected
    ...

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  8. Product
    Constraints

    have to be
    respected
    ...

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  9. Revenue
    generation / preservation is a
    reasonable business expectation
    Clues

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  10. Value
    Assumptions
    ...
    can be trouble without
    confirmation / conviction
    ...

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  11. Research
    via customers / users / proxies can
    be decoupled from defining metric
    Clues

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  12. North
    Star
    Metric
    ...
    means choosing one
    metric to focus on
    ...

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  13. Proxy
    Metric
    ...
    allows a product team
    some level of control
    ...

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  14. Business Model
    requires connecting product usage to
    revenue impact
    Clues

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  15. Product
    Usage
    ...
    wait - what?!?
    unlimited???
    ...

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  16. Business Model
    requires connecting product usage to
    revenue impact
    Clues

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  17. Business Model
    will likely need to change
    in the long term
    Clues

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  18. Product
    Usage

    really doesn’t matter
    (for this puzzle)
    ...

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  19. Product
    Usage
    ...
    really doesn’t matter
    (for this puzzle)
    ...

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  20. Product
    Constraints
    ...
    have to be
    respected
    ...

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  21. Business Health
    is a lagging indicator (e.g. churn) -
    and we want a leading signal
    Clues

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  22. Giving
    Up
    ...
    is how this ends
    a lot of times for the PM
    ...

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  23. Complicated
    Metrics
    ...
    are not the point,
    correlated metrics are
    ...

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  24. Leadership
    ...
    is a mystery that needs
    multiple keynotes to solve
    ...

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  25. Leadership
    ...
    is a mystery that needs
    multiple keynotes to solve
    ...

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  26. Leadership
    Constraints
    can sometimes be invisible to
    product teams
    Clues

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  27. Revenue
    Correlation
    ...
    can’t just be made up
    ...

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  28. Product
    Constraints
    ...
    have to be
    respected
    ...

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  29. Disconnected
    Metrics
    ...
    are product teams trying
    to do something of value
    ...

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  30. Repeating
    Metrics
    ...
    that you copy/paste from
    elsewhere doesn’t work
    ...

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  31. Business
    Models
    ...
    even when sub-optimal,
    can’t be changed overnight
    ...

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  32. Solving
    Mysteries
    ...
    is hard work
    ...

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  33. It
    Works
    ...
    but I don’t love it for a
    product team long-term
    ...

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  34. Uptime
    ...
    it’s not just an
    engineering metric
    ...

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  35. Solving Mysteries
    requires patience
    Clues

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  36. Uptime
    ...
    it’s what the customers
    in this puzzle are paying for
    ...

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  37. Solving Mysteries
    requires experience
    Clues

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  38. Uptime
    ...
    because it works,
    for now
    ...

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  39. Solving Mysteries
    requires persistence
    Clues

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  40. ¿
    what
    was
    that
    ?

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  41. Signs of a Strategy Spiral

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  42. Signs of a Strategy Spiral
    Metrics
    over-index on
    moving the metric

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  43. Metrics
    over-index on
    moving the metric
    Tactics
    quarterly shifts -
    no long-term bets
    Signs of a Strategy Spiral

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  44. Signs of a Strategy Spiral
    Metrics
    over-index on
    moving the metric
    Tactics
    quarterly shifts -
    no long-term bets
    Teams
    disoriented teams
    lacking focus

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  45. Signs of a Strategy Spiral
    Metrics
    over-index on
    moving the metric
    Tactics
    quarterly shifts -
    no long-term bets
    Teams
    disoriented teams
    lacking focus
    Emotions
    sticking to ideas
    without signal

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  46. Signs of a Strategy Spiral
    Metrics
    struggling to map
    to revenue
    Tactics
    not sure if / how
    to drive usage
    Teams
    as confused as
    the Tweets
    Emotions
    trying to apply
    known playbooks

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  47. ¿
    when
    did
    this
    happen
    ?

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  48. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Framework Focus

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  49. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Framework Focus
    content >> template

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  50. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Date Driven

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  51. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Date Driven
    plans >> planning

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  52. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Lacking Learning

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  53. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Lacking Learning
    learning >> building

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  54. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Constrained Mind

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  55. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Constrained Mind
    success >> survival

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  56. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Functional Bias

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  57. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Functional Bias
    product teams >> PMs

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  58. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Seniority Sway

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  59. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Seniority Sway
    visibility >> seniority

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  60. Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    Date Driven
    plans >> planning
    Lacking Learning
    learning >> building
    Constrained Mind
    success >> survival
    Functional Bias
    product teams >> PMs
    Seniority Sway
    visibility >> seniority
    Framework Focus
    content >> template

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  61. ¿
    where
    do
    we
    go
    now
    ?

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  62. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    not shared
    not logical
    not clear
    not painless

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  63. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    shared
    logical
    clear
    painless

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  64. Steering through Strategy Spirals

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  65. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    written
    clearly

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  66. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    written
    clearly
    broadcasted
    regularly

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  67. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    written
    clearly
    planned
    logically
    broadcasted
    regularly

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  68. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    written
    clearly
    planned
    logically
    broadcasted
    regularly
    executed
    effortlessly

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  69. Steering through Strategy Spirals
    written
    clearly
    planned
    logically
    broadcasted
    regularly
    executed
    effortlessly
    Legibility Composability
    Synchroncity Affordability

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  70. ¿
    how
    can
    you
    apply
    ?

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  71. Signs
    01 02
    Suspects
    03
    Steering
    Conclusions

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  72. ● Signs of a Strategy Spiral
    ○ Metrics
    ○ Tactics
    ○ Teams
    ○ Emotions
    Conclusions

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  73. ● Suspects in a Strategy Spiral
    ○ Framework Focus
    ○ Date Driven
    ○ Lacking Learning
    ○ Constrained Mind
    ○ Functional Bias
    ○ Seniority Sway
    Conclusions

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  74. ● Steering through a Strategy Spiral
    ○ Legibility
    ○ Synchronicity
    ○ Composability
    ○ Affordability
    Conclusions

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  75. What’s Next? For Me
    Amplify
    May 24-26 in Las
    Vegas (virtual too)
    ScholarSite
    4 session cohort
    starting July 18
    Substack
    Run the Business
    newsletter
    Twitter
    @ibscribe
    LinkedIn
    t.co/ib

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  76. ¿ … ?
    What’s Next? For You

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    Thanks!
    Do you have any questions?
    [email protected]
    +91 620 421 838
    yourcompany.com
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