With the inevitable onslaught of executive directives to transform into an “AI-first” company and “integrate AI” into our ways of working, teams are now taking on their regular day-to-day product work while also trying to shift their processes and methods to reflect modern tools and capabilities. I don’t envy them. In all likelihood much of the in-flight isn’t tightly coupled to a specific organizational or product strategy and to throw AI on top of it all means added chaos, guessing and executive stakeholder disappointment. What if you could get your teams aligned on the next quarter or two’s worth of work quickly, let’s say in an afternoon, and be able to present that direction coupled with success metrics to your boss? I suspect that will help you have the right conversation that straddles existing product demands and technology and process shifts. Let me show you how to do that using the Lean Strategy Canvas. 

The Lean Strategy Canvas is a tool to build team alignment

When we reissued the Lean Product Canvas a few years ago we realized that the strategy portion of the conversation was missing from it. We developed the Lean Strategy Canvas in tandem to ensure that teams had a complete set of facilitation tools to build shared understanding and alignment. We did it in a way that was lightweight, focused on quick results and the desired output of a measurable strategic hypothesis for the team(s) to pursue. 

The Lean Strategy Canvas helps facilitate four important conversations. 

1. What is the goal we’re trying to achieve? 
2. What is getting in the way of us achieving that goal?
3. What strategy will we use to overcome the obstacles and achieve the goal? (Using Roger Martin’s two key questions). 
4. How will we know we’ve achieved the strategy and goal? (Using high-level OKRs)

What is the goal we’re trying to achieve?

This can be as simple as you need it to be. It can be product focused or it can be process focused or even both. For example:

• We need to get more revenue out of the existing product
• We need to make the mortgage application process more efficient for customers
• We need to reclaim the “industry standard” title in our industry
• We need to figure out how to get AI more integrated in our products and our ways of working

Don’t overthink it. What’s the main demand you’re getting right now?

What is getting in the way of us achieving that goal?

This is where you list your obstacles. They can be process challenges or technical hurdles. They may be incentive challenges or market issues you haven’t addressed yet. Be honest here. Make a thorough list. You don’t need to take on every challenge right away. Once you have a robust list, work together as a team to identify the one or two challenges you’d like to overcome first. That will help focus your strategy conversation. 

What strategy will we use to overcome the obstacles and achieve the goal?

This is where we start to think of how to focus our work. To do that, the Lean Strategy Canvas asks you to use Roger Martin’s two key strategy questions:

1. Where will you play? In other words, what market, industry vertical, target audience, geography, department, company size, etc you’ll focus on first. It doesn’t mean you won’t focus on the other markets later. For now, though, we have to pick one and align around it.
   
2. How will you win? The answer here isn’t so much designed to drive a conversation around features as it is general direction. For example, you may decide that in order to win your chosen market you’ll ensure no one in your industry is easier to use or perhaps you’ll be the cheapest in the market or have the most technically advanced offering. Don’t make al it’s of solutions here but rather a competitive advantage or value proposition that you believe your target market will take advantage of. 

Coming out of this conversation you will have your strategic hypothesis. You’re nearly there. 

How will we know we’ve achieved the strategy and goal?

Finally, the canvas asks you to set some metrics in the form of objectives and key results to help you determine if you’re making progress towards achieving your strategic hypothesis. The facilitation here follows our guidance in Who does what by how much? Asking you to come up with measures of human behavior that tell you the strategy is working. The humans can be your customers or they can be internal teams or 3rd party vendors etc. They are the humans most impacted by the changes you’re making. 

These OKRs serve as guideposts telling you whether the work you’ll end up doing to achieve the strategy is having its intended impact. 

Use the Lean Strategy Canvas to build shared understanding

Given the existing workload being placed on teams coupled with the demands for AI transformation, a lack of alignment is the quickest way to not achieve any of those objectives. Give the Lean Strategy Canvas a try with your teams today. It shouldn’t take longer than an afternoon. You can probably get it all done in a couple of hours if you come in prepared. Then use the output to start deciding on what work will help you achieve the desired strategy and OKRs and what can wait until the next time you align around strategy. Good luck!