What is strategy, really?

I sat through many quarterly planning sessions, where a leader announces a goal - “Grow active users by 10%” or “Become the number 1 search result in our segment” - and call it a strategy. Then the room nods, and everyone goes back to their desks unsure what to actually change about their Monday mornings.

That’s because a goal is not a strategy. A goal is a destination. How to get there is the crucial part that is missing. If you can’t name the decisions and trade-offs you are making you don’t have a strategy.

A goal does something useful: everyone in that meeting agrees on the destination. But agreeing on the destination is not agreeing on the route. Imagine telling a group of hikers “We need to reach the mountain peak by nightfall”. They all nod. Then one heads through the dense forest, another follows the river, a third tries to climb the cliff. Each path is a different set of decisions. And none of them are talking to each other.

This is what happens in product teams that have a goal but no strategy. Everyone works toward the same outcome, but they choose their own paths. Weeks pass and little meaningful progress is made. The compounding of efforts is lost, and people start asking “Are we even going in the same direction?”

Over time, I have learned to look for two specific things in any product strategy. First, clarity: can someone explain the strategy in plan language? Second, does the strategy name what you are deliberately not doing? Let me explain both.

Clarity

If a strategy is full of jargon and you still cannot explain it to a new teammate over coffee, it is not a strategy. It’s a shield.

I have seen many strategies that use words like “synergize outcomes”, “leverage strategic cross-functional resources” and “optimize holistic user touchpoints”. No one knows what these mean. But no one wants to admit it in the meeting, so the document gets approved and nothing changes. The jargon protects the author from hard questions.

A clear strategy sounds almost simple - not necessarily easy to execute or without ambition - but the meaning is visible. A clear strategy might say: “We focus on retention over acquisition in the next six months. That means we will make existing customers more successful rather than chasing new signups. ” That is plain language. Developers and customer teams can act on it without needing a translator.

Jargon often hides indecision. If you scratch your head while reading a strategy, it’s not you. The strategy is being used as a shield. Put it down and ask: “What does this mean for Monday morning?” If no one can answer, you don’t have a strategy.

Stating trade-offs

The pattern I often see is not lack of analysis. It’s the lack of explicit trade-offs.

A goal feels good, and a list of initiatives might sound productive. But neither forces you to say no. A real strategy always includes what you will not do. If your strategy allows you to go in multiple directions, maybe even listed rank one to ten, it’s not a strategy.

The hardest decision is not which feature to build next. It’s which opportunity to walk away from. I learned this on a team where we had a solid goal and good data, but no one had the courage to kill an old feature that consumed too much engineering time. We decided: no new features on the legacy module for six months, even if existing customers complained. When we finally started to cut, the progress doubled.

So ask yourself: What are you not doing? If the answer is nothing - your strategy is incomplete.

A practical example

Consider a strategy statement like this:

“Create new solutions for customer value, which are developed and integrated with core products and services to expand our customer-centric platform.”

What does this actually say? “New solutions” - what kind? “integrated with core products” - how? “expand our platform” - how do we expand? It might sound very sophisticated, but no one can take this and build something concrete, or know what to stop.

Now, compare this strategy that clearly states trade-offs from a digital learning platform:

“We will increase course completion rate from 40% to 55% within six months. To do that we will focus all efforts on improving the core lesson experience - video playback, module navigation, reminders, and progress tracking. That means we will not build any discussion boards or quizzes during this time, even though they are frequently requested”

This is plain language. A developer knows what to build and what to ignore. A product owner knows which customer segment to talk to. Marketing knows how to frame their messaging.

The second example might be uncomfortable, because it closes the door on the quizzes, which might be a request from a very prominent stakeholder. But it creates clarity and focus.

How to check your own strategy

You do not need a workshop or a consultant. Take fifteen minutes.

First, test for clarity. Write down your strategy in two plain sentences. Read them to a colleague who does not work on your product. If they cannot repeat it back to you with reasonable accuracy, your strategy is not clear.

Second, test for trade-offs. Name one specific thing you are deliberately not doing because of this strategy. If you cannot name one, you have not made a strategic choice – you have made a wish.

Third, do this short exercise. Take your current product goal. Write down three concrete decisions required to reach that goal. Then write down one good opportunity you will walk away from to stay focused.

That is it. Three steps. If you pass all three, you have a real strategy. If not, you know what to fix before you plan another sprint.

A final question

A goal tells you where you want to go. A strategy tells you how to get there - and, just as importantly, which paths you are not taking.

I have learned to look for two things in any product strategy. First, clarity: can someone explain it in plain language without hiding behind jargon? Second, trade-offs: does it explicitly name what you will not do? If both are present, you have a real strategy. If not, your strategy is incomplete.

Now I am curions about you. Looking at your current product: What is the one decision your team kept avoiding that would have made your strategy truly clear?