---
name: strategic-thinking
description: >
  Connect intent, context, capabilities, and options into a coherent strategy
  with tradeoffs, risks, and a sequenced path. Use when the user asks for
  strategic thinking, competitive positioning, roadmap logic, "where to play /
  how to win", portfolio prioritization, or narrative that links goals to
  constraints and bets.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: ysskrishna
  version: "2026.5.17"
---

# Strategic Thinking

Strategy is choosing what **not** to do as much as what to do. End with explicit bets and guardrails.

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## When to Use

Use for direction-setting: business, product, career pivots, org design at a high level, narrative for investors or leadership. Not for low-level implementation steps unless framed as "strategic rollout".

---

## 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)

Up to 3 questions on goals, constraints, and non-negotiables; then proceed with `[ASSUMED]` where needed.

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?

### Landscape

Forces that matter: customers, competition, technology, regulation, economics. Use **Implication:** bullets — not encyclopedic lists.

### 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 **options to build advantage**.

### Options

2–4 mutually distinct strategies or postures. For each:

> **Option:** … — **Bet:** … — **Cost:** … — **Kill signal:** …

### Choice

Name **one primary** option (or **parallel** bets if truly justified). Explain **why now** and what you are **deferring or rejecting**.

### Risks & Cadence

Top **3 risks** with mitigations. **90-day focus**, **12-month thesis**, and **review trigger** (metric or event that forces rethink).

---

## Execution Rules

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 flag `[UNKNOWN]` instead of fabricating market facts.

---

## Checklist (verify before responding)

- [ ] Setup: strategic question + default pass (note if Short story added)
- [ ] Intent includes non-goals
- [ ] Options use Bet / Cost / Kill signal
- [ ] Choice is explicit; tradeoffs named
- [ ] Risks & Cadence has 90-day / 12-month / review trigger