strategic-thinking · diff
v2026.5.17 to v2026.10.5
37 added, 54 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: strategic-thinking
description: >
- Use this skill when the user asks for strategic thinking (including naming it
- or directing use/apply/run with obvious misspellings; decisive) or wants
- direction under constraint—connecting intent, context, capabilities, and
- options into coherent bets, tradeoffs, risks, and a sequenced path. Use when
- they talk about competitive positioning, roadmap narrative, where to play and
- how to win, portfolio prioritization, or leadership narrative that links goals
- to constraints, even if they never use the word strategy. Skip for step-by-step
- implementation detail when no strategic framing or choice among directions is
- requested.
+ Use for strategic thinking, or when the user must choose a direction under constraints: "where should we focus?", "how do we win?", "roadmap for next year", "what should we not do?". Ends in explicit bets and risks. Skip for step-by-step implementation.
license: MIT
metadata:
author: ysskrishna
- version: "2026.5.17"
+ version: "2026.10.5"
---
# Strategic Thinking
Strategy is choosing what **not** to do as much as what to do. End with explicit bets and guardrails.
- **How to run it with this skill:** one clearly headed section per phase in this order: Intent → Landscape → Advantage → Options → Choice → Risks & Cadence. Optional **Short story** subsection only when Setup calls for it.
-
- ---
-
- ## Setup (run before starting)
-
- In one short block:
-
- 1. **Strategic question** — one sentence (e.g. "How should we win in X given Y?")
- 2. **Default pass** — Intent → Landscape → Advantage → Options → Choice → Risks & Cadence (state this line)
-
- If goals, constraints, or non-negotiables are missing, ask at most 3 questions in one message, then proceed. Note any remaining gaps or working guesses in plain language (no bracket tags in Setup).
-
- If the user asked for a **memo or deck storyline**, add after **Risks & Cadence** a **Short story** subsection (5–7 sentences: tension → insight → decision → proof path).
-
- ---
-
- ## The Phases
-
- ### Intent
-
- **Win definition** — what outcome in what timeframe? **Non-goals** — what is explicitly out of scope?
+ ## When to use
- ### Landscape
+ - Choosing a direction for a product, team, company, technology platform or career under real constraints.
+ - Competitive positioning, "where to play and how to win", roadmap narrative, portfolio trade-offs.
+ - Leadership or board-style narrative that links goals to constraints.
- Forces that matter: customers, competition, technology, regulation, economics. Use **Implication:** bullets — not encyclopedic lists.
+ Skip: step-by-step implementation detail, or choosing between two concrete options on named criteria.
- ### Advantage (or **Honest gap**)
+ ## Before you start
- Where could durable advantage come from — assets, learning loops, distribution, data, brand, cost? If none is credible, say so and pivot to **options to build advantage**.
+ 1. State in one block: **Strategic question** (one sentence) and **Pass** (Intent, Landscape, Advantage, Options, Choice, Risks and Cadence).
+ 2. **Gather first.** Read the roadmap, docs, metrics or market notes you can reach before writing Landscape. Never invent market facts; say what is unknown. Ask up to 3 questions only for goals and non-negotiables that tools cannot answer.
+ 3. **Light path.** Small ask: 1-2 lines per phase, 2 options, same order.
+ 4. If the user wants a memo or deck storyline, add a **Short story** after Risks and Cadence (5-7 sentences: tension, insight, decision, proof path).
- ### Options
+ ## Phases
- 2–4 mutually distinct strategies or postures. For each:
+ ### 1. Intent
+ **Win definition:** which outcome, by when. **Non-goals:** what is explicitly out of scope.
- > **Option:** … — **Bet:** … — **Cost:** … — **Kill signal:** …
+ ### 2. Landscape
+ Forces that matter: customers, competition, technology, regulation, economics. Use **Implication:** bullets, not encyclopedic lists. Keep short when information is thin.
- ### Choice
+ ### 3. Advantage (or **Honest gap**)
+ Where could durable advantage come from: assets, learning loops, distribution, data, brand, cost? If none is credible, say so and pivot to how to build one.
- Name **one primary** option (or **parallel** bets if truly justified). Explain **why now** and what you are **deferring or rejecting**.
+ ### 4. Options
+ 2-4 genuinely different strategies:
- ### Risks & Cadence
+ > **Option:** ... - **Bet:** ... - **Cost:** ... - **Kill signal:** ...
- Top **3 risks** with mitigations. **90-day focus**, **12-month thesis**, and **review trigger** (metric or event that forces rethink).
+ ### 5. Choice
+ Name one primary option (parallel bets only if clearly justified). Say **why now** and what you are **deferring or rejecting**.
- ---
+ ### 6. Risks and Cadence
+ Top 3 risks with mitigations. Then a **near-term focus**, a **longer-term thesis** and a **review trigger** (a metric or event that forces a rethink). Match the horizons to the domain: 90 days and 12 months suit a business plan; an architecture or career decision may need different spans, so state the spans you chose.
- ## Execution Rules
+ ## Pitfalls
- 1. **Choice** must reference **Options**; do not introduce a new strategy in the final section without labeling it a revision.
- 2. Avoid generic platitudes ("innovate", "customer-centric") without a mechanism.
- 3. If information is thin, keep **Landscape** short and say plainly what is unknown instead of fabricating market facts.
+ - Platitudes ("innovate", "customer-centric") with no mechanism.
+ - Options that are really one option in different words.
+ - A Choice that introduces a strategy not in Options. Label it a revision if so.
+ - Advantage claimed with no evidence. Use Honest gap.
- ---
+ Worked example: [references/example.md](references/example.md).
- ## Checklist (verify before responding)
+ ## Checklist
- - [ ] Setup: strategic question + default pass (note if Short story added)
+ - [ ] Strategic question and Pass stated
- [ ] Intent includes non-goals
- - [ ] Options use Bet / Cost / Kill signal
- - [ ] Choice is explicit; tradeoffs named
- - [ ] Risks & Cadence has 90-day / 12-month / review trigger
+ - [ ] Options use Bet, Cost, Kill signal
+ - [ ] Choice explicit, with what is deferred or rejected
+ - [ ] Risks and Cadence: top 3 risks, stated horizons, review trigger