Strategy & Decision Making
Strategy Is Choosing What Not to Do
Everyone has goals. Strategy is the set of choices that guide how you'll achieve them — and more importantly, what you'll sacrifice.
The Strategy Stack
Think of product strategy as layers:
- Vision — Where are we going? (3-5 year north star)
- Strategy — How will we get there? (key choices + trade-offs)
- Roadmap — What are we building next? (quarterly priorities)
- Backlog — What are the specific tasks? (sprint-level)
Most engineers live in layers 3-4. PMs operate across all four. Understanding the top layers makes you 10x more effective at the bottom ones.
Good Strategy vs. Bad Strategy
Bad strategy is a list of goals disguised as a plan:
"We will grow revenue 40%, expand to 3 new markets, and launch AI features."
Good strategy identifies a key challenge and a coherent approach:
"Our biggest barrier to growth is retention — 60% of users churn in week 2. We will focus all efforts on the first-week experience, deliberately delaying new market expansion until retention exceeds 80%."
Decision-Making Frameworks
1. One-Way vs. Two-Way Doors (Jeff Bezos)
- One-way door: Irreversible. Take your time. Example: changing your pricing model.
- Two-way door: Easily reversible. Decide fast. Example: button color, copy changes.
Most decisions are two-way doors. Treat them that way.
2. The Disagree-and-Commit Principle
When the team can't reach consensus:
- Everyone shares their position
- The decision-maker decides
- Everyone commits fully — even those who disagreed
- Revisit after results are in
This prevents analysis paralysis without ignoring dissent.
3. Decision Journal
For every major decision, write down:
- What you decided
- Why (key factors)
- What you expect to happen
- What would make you reverse the decision
Review quarterly. You'll learn more about your decision-making patterns than any book will teach you.
The "Bet Sizing" Framework
Not all decisions need the same level of rigor:
| Bet Size | Reversible? | Investment | Rigor Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | Yes | < 1 week | Just do it |
| Medium | Mostly | 1-4 weeks | Quick analysis |
| Large | Partially | 1-3 months | Full analysis, stakeholder buy-in |
| Existential | No | > 3 months | Deep research, board-level discussion |
Exercise: Strategy Teardown
Pick any product you admire. Answer:
- What is their strategy? (Not their features — their choices)
- What are they deliberately not doing?
- What key challenge does their strategy address?
Key Insight: The engineer who understands why they're building something makes better technical decisions than the one who just knows what to build.