How to Get Clarity When Your Company's Strategy is… “Fuzzy”
“Our vision is to be the best!”
Cue awkward silence in the conference room.
“Best at… what exactly?”
“Everything!”
If you’ve ever sat through a company strategy meeting and left with your head spinning, you’re experiencing a common problem. It usually unfolds in layers of confusion.
First, there’s the vision – those sweeping statements that try to inspire but end up saying nothing. They’re either so broad they could apply to any company (“be the best!”) or so narrow they box you into today’s solutions instead of tomorrow’s possibilities.
Then you dig into the strategic intents – the company’s concrete goals for the next 1-3 years. Here’s where things often get worse, not better. You’ll find one of two problems:
The “Make More Money” Syndrome: Goals that just restate financial targets without explaining how. “Double our revenue!” Okay… but that’s a target, not a strategy.
The “Pet Project” Parade: Goals that are actually solutions in disguise. “Build an AI chatbot!” That’s not a strategy – that’s a feature masquerading as direction.
Neither helps you actually prioritize work or make decisions. Neither tells you which customers matter most, which problems to solve first, or how to choose between competing initiatives.
But here’s the good news: you can get clarity even when your company’s strategy seems fuzzy. Here’s how.
When strategy is unclear, anchor yourself in how your company creates value. Every initiative typically falls into one of these categories (from Joshua Arnold’s Framework for Thinking about Value):
Increasing Revenue: Expanding markets, moving upmarket/downmarket
Protecting Revenue: Improving retention, staying competitive
Reducing Costs: Streamlining operations, improving efficiency
Avoiding Costs: Preventing future expenses, managing risks
If you can connect your initiative to these value drivers, you can elevate the conversation with executives. Here are key questions to help clarify priorities:
About Business Impact
“What do we hope to gain for the business by building this?” This simple question often reveals unstated strategic priorities.
About Customers
“Which customers are we targeting, and what research shows they want this?” The answer (or lack thereof) tells you volumes about strategic clarity.
About Trade-offs
“Between X and Y, which is more important right now?” Force explicit choices to surface implicit strategy.
About Success
“How will we know if this succeeds?” The metrics people care about reveal true priorities.
Sometimes, despite asking all the right questions, strategy remains fuzzy. Here’s my approach when working with companies in this situation:
Document what you’ve learned from conversations and observed from previous prioritization decisions in a strategy memo format.
Look for patterns: What gets funded? What gets killed? What gets celebrated?
Identify measurable business outcomes that current priorities are driving.
Present this information in an easy-to-digest format.
Highlight questions and gaps you’ve noticed.
Often, seeing something on paper triggers reactions that lead to clearer strategic discussions.
Now if you're a leader, don’t be afraid to take initiative within the executive team. In many companies, it's the CPO who ultimately steps in and wrangles strategy into something tangible. If the executive team hasn’t done this yet, be the lynchpin that pulls it together. (This also sets you up well to become a CEO one day, which is a career path we talk about on today's Product Thinking Podcast).
Remember: You don’t need perfect strategic clarity to make good product decisions. You just need enough clarity to move forward confidently.
Start with these questions in your next meeting. You might find that while the strategy isn’t written in stone, it’s written in the choices your company makes every day.
Your goal isn’t to write the perfect company strategy – it’s to understand it well enough to build products that matter.
Want to get better at Product Strategy? We’re launching a course on Product Institute in Q4 2024 on this. Sign up now to be notified of launch, or reach out to info [at] productinstitute.com if you are inquiring about training for teams.