product-strategist

What this skill does

# Product Strategist

Strategic toolkit for Head of Product to drive vision, alignment, and organizational excellence.

---

## Core Capabilities

| Capability | Description | Tool |
|------------|-------------|------|
| **OKR Cascade** | Generate aligned OKRs from company to team level | `okr_cascade_generator.py` |
| **Alignment Scoring** | Measure vertical and horizontal alignment | Built into generator |
| **Strategy Templates** | 5 pre-built strategy types | Growth, Retention, Revenue, Innovation, Operational |
| **Team Configuration** | Customize for your org structure | `--teams` flag |

---

## Quick Start

```bash
# Growth strategy with default teams
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py growth

# Retention strategy with custom teams
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py retention --teams "Engineering,Design,Data"

# Revenue strategy with 40% product contribution
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py revenue --contribution 0.4

# Export as JSON for integration
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py growth --json > okrs.json
```

---

## Workflow: Quarterly Strategic Planning

### Step 1: Define Strategic Focus

| Strategy | When to Use |
|----------|-------------|
| **Growth** | Scaling user base, market expansion |
| **Retention** | Reducing churn, improving LTV |
| **Revenue** | Increasing ARPU, new monetization |
| **Innovation** | Market differentiation, new capabilities |
| **Operational** | Improving efficiency, scaling operations |

See `references/strategy_types.md` for detailed guidance.

### Step 2: Gather Input Metrics

```json
{
  "current": 100000,      // Current MAU
  "target": 150000,       // Target MAU
  "current_nps": 40,      // Current NPS
  "target_nps": 60        // Target NPS
}
```

### Step 3: Configure Teams & Run Generator

```bash
# Default teams
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py growth

# Custom org structure with contribution percentage
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py growth \
  --teams "Core,Platform,Mobile,AI" \
  --contribution 0.3
```

### Step 4: Review Alignment Scores

| Score | Target | Action if Below |
|-------|--------|-----------------|
| Vertical Alignment | >90% | Ensure all objectives link to parent |
| Horizontal Alignment | >75% | Check for team coordination gaps |
| Coverage | >80% | Validate all company OKRs are addressed |
| Balance | >80% | Redistribute if one team is overloaded |
| **Overall** | **>80%** | <60% needs restructuring |

### Step 5: Refine, Validate, and Export

Before finalizing:

- [ ] Review generated objectives with stakeholders
- [ ] Adjust team assignments based on capacity
- [ ] Validate contribution percentages are realistic
- [ ] Ensure no conflicting objectives across teams
- [ ] Set up tracking cadence (bi-weekly check-ins)

```bash
# Export JSON for tools like Lattice, Ally, Workboard
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py growth --json > q1_okrs.json
```

---

## OKR Cascade Generator

### Usage

```bash
python scripts/okr_cascade_generator.py [strategy] [options]
```

**Strategies:** `growth` | `retention` | `revenue` | `innovation` | `operational`

### Configuration Options

| Option | Description | Default |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| `--teams`, `-t` | Comma-separated team names | Growth,Platform,Mobile,Data |
| `--contribution`, `-c` | Product contribution to company OKRs (0-1) | 0.3 (30%) |
| `--json`, `-j` | Output as JSON instead of dashboard | False |
| `--metrics`, `-m` | Metrics as JSON string | Sample metrics |

### Output Examples

#### Dashboard Output (`growth` strategy)

```
============================================================
OKR CASCADE DASHBOARD
Quarter: Q1 2025  |  Strategy: GROWTH
Teams: Growth, Platform, Mobile, Data  |  Product Contribution: 30%
============================================================

🏢 COMPANY OKRS
📌 CO-1: Accelerate user acquisition and market expansion
   └─ CO-1-KR1: Increase MAU from 100,000 to 150,000
   └─ CO-1-KR2: Achieve 50% MoM growth rate
   └─ CO-1-KR3: Expand to 3 new markets

📌 CO-2: Achieve product-market fit in new segments
📌 CO-3: Build sustainable growth engine

🚀 PRODUCT OKRS
📌 PO-1: Build viral product features and market expansion
   ↳ Supports: CO-1
   └─ PO-1-KR1: Increase product MAU to 45,000
   └─ PO-1-KR2: Achieve 45% feature adoption rate

👥 TEAM OKRS
Growth Team:
  📌 GRO-1: Build viral product features through acquisition and activation
     └─ GRO-1-KR1: Increase product MAU to 11,250
     └─ GRO-1-KR2: Achieve 11.25% feature adoption rate

🎯 ALIGNMENT SCORES
✓ Vertical Alignment: 100.0%
! Horizontal Alignment: 75.0%
✓ Coverage: 100.0%  |  ✓ Balance: 97.5%  |  ✓ Overall: 94.0%
✅ Overall alignment is GOOD (≥80%)
```

#### JSON Output (`retention --json`, truncated)

```json
{
  "quarter": "Q1 2025",
  "strategy": "retention",
  "company": {
    "objectives": [
      {
        "id": "CO-1",
        "title": "Create lasting customer value and loyalty",
        "key_results": [
          { "id": "CO-1-KR1", "title": "Improve retention from 70% to 85%", "current": 70, "target": 85 }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "product": { "contribution": 0.3, "objectives": ["..."] },
  "teams": ["..."],
  "alignment_scores": {
    "vertical_alignment": 100.0, "horizontal_alignment": 75.0,
    "coverage": 100.0, "balance": 97.5, "overall": 94.0
  }
}
```

See `references/examples/sample_growth_okrs.json` for a complete example.

---

## Reference Documents

| Document | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| `references/okr_framework.md` | OKR methodology, writing guidelines, alignment scoring |
| `references/strategy_types.md` | Detailed breakdown of all 5 strategy types with examples |
| `references/examples/sample_growth_okrs.json` | Complete sample output for growth strategy |

---

## Best Practices

### OKR Cascade

- Limit to 3-5 objectives per level, each with 3-5 key results
- Key results must be measurable with current and target values
- Validate parent-child relationships before finalizing

### Alignment Scoring

- Target >80% overall alignment; investigate any score below 60%
- Balance scores ensure no team is overloaded
- Horizontal alignment prevents conflicting goals across teams

### Team Configuration

- Configure teams to match your actual org structure
- Adjust contribution percentages based on team size
- Platform/Infrastructure teams often support all objectives
- Specialized teams (ML, Data) may only support relevant objectives

## Related Skills

- **Senior PM** (`project-management/senior-pm/`) — Portfolio management and risk analysis inform strategic planning
- **Competitive Teardown** (`product-team/competitive-teardown/`) — Competitive intelligence feeds product strategy