Apr 6, 2025
Bad strategy documents aren't your fault.
You join a new team. You're handed a 30-pager full of buzzwords, abstract goals and empty phrases. You read it. You reread it. Still lost.
It feels like you're the problem. You're not. The document is.
Most strategy docs aren't written to be understood. They're written to impress. Or to tick a box. They sprawl with vague visions and empty frameworks, then expect alignment to magically follow.
But the job of a strategy isn't to sound smart.
📘 The job of a strategy is to create clarity. Direction. Focus. And what to ignore.
A good strategy is short and sharp. Like a pitch. You should be able to explain it in 30 seconds. Use SCQA if you need help: Situation, Complication, Question, Answer.
If you're a Product Manager, that's your job. Not just writing the doc. Shape UpA product development method built around shaped pitches, fixed time budgets and deliberate bets rather than an endless backlog.Learn more the strategy. Testing it. Pressure-proofing it with your team and execs.
So if you're staring at a bloated, broken strategy, don't wait for permission.
Tear it apart. Make it clearer. Make it tighter. Make it usable.
Alignment doesn't come from reading. It comes from understanding.
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I'm a father of 3 from Sydney, a product and technology leader. I write about leadership, product management, technology and the messy reality of making work work.
I'm currently building and experimenting with a mildly alarming number of things. I also work as a fractional product leader, stepping in where the founder or CEO is still carrying product decisions on their own, and offer 1:1 product leadership coaching for senior PMs and emerging product leaders. I founded SoundingBoard, practical peer exchange for product people. Connect via LinkedIn, or follow me on X.
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