Official skill · Strategy

Choose a strategy approach

v1.0.1 · Updated 4 November 2026

Asks about the decision, horizon, environment, and main unknown, then recommends one or two strategy frameworks in order, with what to bring, or says none fits. Use it when someone says "we need a strategy" and nobody agrees where to start.

Add to my team's pod

Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.

When to use it

Someone says "we need a strategy" and nobody agrees where to start
Before running a familiar framework out of habit
You have a strategic question and want the method that answers it

What you give it

The decision to be made, by whom and when
The time horizon
How predictable, shapeable, and harsh the market is
The main unknown

What you get

A short routing note: the decision and environment as stated, one or two skills in order with why, what to bring and what each produces, what the route won't answer, and what would change it.

How it works

Ask for the decision "What will you decide differently after this work?" If the answer is "nothing specific", ask what triggered the request (a board meeting, a loss, a stall) and turn that into a decision. A framework without a decision produces a document nobody uses.
Ask the horizon This quarter points toward constraint, funnel, and experiment skills; one to three years toward positioning, resources, and growth options; beyond that toward scenarios and maps.
Read the environment Ask three questions, from BCG's palette: Can you predict demand and competition a year out? Can your company, alone or with partners, change how the market works? Is the business under threat right now (cash, a crisis, a collapse in demand)? A predictable, hard-to-shape market suits analysis-then-plan methods; an unpredictable one suits experiments; a harsh one puts survival first. If the user isn't sure, route to strategy-style-selector first.
Find the main unknown Ask: "If you knew one thing for certain, which would make the decision easy?" Map the answer to the routing table at the end of these steps. If two unknowns are tied, pick the one the other depends on.
Pick one or two skills and set the order Recommend at most two. For each, say why it fits this situation, what to bring (data, people, time), and what it will produce. When there are two, put first the one whose output feeds the second.
Say what the route won't answer Name the question the chosen skills leave open, so nobody expects the framework to settle it.
Say when none fits If the question is operational, financial, or about goals rather than strategy, say so and name the skill that fits better. If the user has no decision and no trigger, say a framework will not help yet and suggest writing the decision first. ### Routing table | Main unknown or situation | Skill | Brings out | |---|---|---| | Is this industry or market worth being in; why are margins low? | five-forces-analysis | The forces that set the industry's profit | | Compete on cost or on difference, broadly or in a niche? | generic-strategy-choice | One generic position and what to stop | | Where in our own activities do cost and value come from? | value-chain-analysis | The activities to fix, cut, or build on | | Which of our resources give an advantage others can't copy? | vrio-analysis | Resources graded by value, rarity, imitability, organization | | Which kind of strategy process fits a market this predictable and shapeable? | strategy-style-selector | A style (classical, adaptive, visionary, shaping, renewal) for the environment | | Everyone competes on the same factors; how to stand apart? | errc-strategy-canvas | Factors to eliminate, reduce, raise, create | | We have goals but no real strategy; what is the core challenge? | strategy-kernel | Diagnosis, guiding policy, coherent actions | | How do our choices fit together from aim to systems? | strategy-choice-cascade | Aspiration, where to play, how to win, capabilities, systems | | Will our advantage last as we grow? | durable-advantage-check | Which sources of lasting advantage you have or lack | | Output is held back by one step or resource | toc-five-focusing-steps | The constraint and how to exploit and lift it | | Sales roles, hand-offs, and stage metrics are unclear | funnel-stage-design | Roles per stage and the metric each owns | | Demand for a new product is uncertain | build-measure-learn | The riskiest assumption and the smallest test | | Early adopters bought, mainstream buyers don't | beachhead-plan | One segment to win first and how | | Why do customers buy, switch, or leave? | jtbd-switch-interview | The job, the forces behind switching | | Which parts of our product or stack will commoditize; what to build, buy, or outsource? | wardley-map | A map of components by evolution, and moves | | How do we stand against one named competitor? | know-enemy-and-yourself | A two-sided comparison and where to engage | | The team is reacting to urgent events; is it a real change? | five-rings-situational-review | Signal vs noise, act, watch, or let go | | Where to grow next: new products, new markets, or both? | ansoff-growth-options | Growth options ranked by risk | | Big outside forces could go several ways over years | scenario-planning | Plausible futures and moves that hold across them | | A quick shared picture of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, turned into actions | swot-tows-analysis | Factors and paired strategies | Common pairs, in order: five-forces-analysis then generic-strategy-choice; jtbd-switch-interview then beachhead-plan; vrio-analysis then durable-advantage-check; win or loss evidence from win-loss-analysis then know-enemy-and-yourself; scenario-planning then strategy-kernel.

Share it with your team

Add it to an AI Skill Pod and everyone on the team, contractors included, uses the same version from their own AI. Read the best ways to share AI skills with a team