Seven Characteristics that Make a Product Strategist Great
“You cannot be everything to everyone. If you decide to go north, you cannot go south at the same time.” Jeroen De Flander
I vividly remember the first time I saw a corporate strategy at the ripe old age of 23. Despite expert communication, workshops, a corporate intranet, and a placemat for your desk, I was clueless. There was an enormous chasm between the company’s goals and my role in executing the strategy. So what exactly was I expected to do?
At the time, I was managing a wellness product in the nutraceutical space. I needed sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and tech to execute. And even if the path forward was clear, who would rally the diverse, global team to achieve our goal?
Thankfully, the company I worked for hired consultants to assist. Their scope? Closing the strategy to execution gap between the company’s objectives, product development, and delivery. This project let me see firsthand how a company’s strategy turns into what product teams execute and how one company objective led to multiple team goals. Seeing how revenue and margin expectations mapped to individual products was especially interesting. What might look arbitrary to teams required significant thought.
However, most important was how they framed what we needed to do as a story in the form of a case study specific to our situation. First, it clearly articulated what our company needed to do and why, then how it planned to go from where it was to its much brighter future.
Next it framed what our team needed to do. The consultants could easily hand down the individual product goals, and they spent time helping the team understand why and how they played a critical role.
Ultimately, the consulting team created a memorable story that was clear and motivational — turning the amorphous, abstract company strategy into a work of art that each product team appreciated.
And this is the moment I realized a clear role was missing in our organization — a product strategist. Part art, part science, a product strategist turns a high-level company strategy into a meaningful plan for product teams. The result? Strategy translating into execution.
Unfortunately, this was the only time I saw product strategists at our company. As the engagement ended, the product strategy died. No one carried it forward, leading to execution drifting, slowing, and diverging.
As I moved through promotions, new roles, and companies, I never saw a product strategy or product strategist again. That is until my role and level changed. What changed? The opportunity to create a product strategy team.
How Does a Strategist Bring Value?
While I plan to cover the details of what questions product strategists answer and how they put together the product strategy in another post, here are a few highlights:
- What problem is the company seeking to solve?
- Why does the company believe a product or change to our products is needed to solve this problem?
- How will our products contribute to and deliver value?
- How will the strategy impact our users, buyers, and stakeholders?
- Where do we start?
Yes, I promise there is a longer list that I will share. The point is that product strategists map the high-level company strategy and goals to the product portfolio or product.
Key Characteristics
Essentially, a product strategist is a specialized role. In a large company, there may be one or many. In contrast, a small company’s product strategy comes from the C suite or the product leader. If and when you create a product strategy discipline, team, or single role, there are seven characteristics you must recruit for, including:
- Superb Story Teller. Stories bring teams together and provide a clear common purpose. To be an influential product strategist, you must share the why, how, what, who, and when in a way that will capture attention and lead to understanding.
- Motivator. A great story has no value in business if it doesn’t lead to action and change. While the story sells the path forward, a product strategist must be able to motivate the team to action.
- Expert Communicator. This rounds out the trifecta. To sell a story and motivate others, you must be an expert communicator.
- Loves Ambiguity. Product strategists live in a world of uncertainty and grey areas. They cannot expect clarity; it’s their job to create it. As a result, product strategists must love ambiguity, embrace it and turn amorphous into product art.
- Bridge Builder. While you can argue this is critical in any role, product strategists serve as the bridge between the company’s ambitions and product execution. They often also serve as a bridge between key leaders and product teams.
- Data Synthesizer. Data must support every part of the product strategy. No gut feels allowed. Data must funnel down from the company’s strategy and up from the product, marketing, sales, etc., to inform and guide the product strategy. A product strategist must synthesize it.
- Sky Diver. A big picture thinker able to dive from the clouds to the ground. Corporate strategy and goals live at the 10,000 ft level, as many like to say. The product strategist needs to see the big picture and turn it into a precision map as they dive toward their specific coordinates.
If You’re Looking for A Product Strategist
If your goal is to find a product strategist, there are two places you can start. First is experienced consultants. Strategy consultants, to be exact. Strategy consultants with experience working for a product-led client, creating product-level strategies, and supporting execution. Your second option is product managers that demonstrate strategic thinking, an ability to tie big picture stories to products, and curiosity. In both cases, interview to determine how many of the seven critical characteristics they have. If any are missing, you must decide if they can fill the gaps quickly.
How to Become A Strategist
If you want to become a product strategist, my advice is to practice and perfect the above characteristics. If you are in product management, imagine what you would expect from someone bridging the divide between the company strategy and product roadmap. If you are not, think about a time, you could have used a strategist to make the company’s goals real for you. Then, find the gaps in your company where a product strategist can help and start filling them. Finally, if you are lucky enough to work at a company where a product strategy team exists, reach out. My experience is that they always look for great people to join the mission.
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Special thanks to Tremis Skeete, Executive Editor at Product Coalition for the valuable input which contributed to the editing of this article.
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