Strategy: Diagnose · Core
Assess your organisation's strengths and gaps
A strategy only works if the organisation can deliver it. Be honest about what you are good at, what you lack and what you could build or buy.
About 2-5 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Strategy and vision
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- All
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- List what your team and company do well, with examples.
- List the skills, systems or data you would need but don't have.
- Ask a few colleagues to challenge the list.
- Mark which gaps matter most for the core challenge.
- Note which gaps could be filled quickly and which take years.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Compare your strengths with competitors and alternatives.
- Decide which capabilities make you different and which are commodities.
- Estimate the cost and time to close the biggest gaps.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Assess capabilities across the portfolio and shared platforms.
- Decide where to invest in people, where to partner and where to stop.
- Build the capability plan into the strategy, not after it.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- Tech Lead or Architect: Assess technical strengths and gaps
- People / HR partner: Assess skills and hiring gaps
Tool examples
- Miro
- Map capabilities as strengths and gaps on one board.
- Google Docs
- Score each capability for importance and current strength.
Definition of done
- Strengths and gaps listed
- Gaps ranked by importance
- Time and cost to close the top gaps estimated
Common pitfalls
- Listing only strengths
- Ignoring how long it takes to build skills
- Treating every capability as unique