This week, we’re taking on a bigger question:
What is product’s role in shaping strategy?
Let me offer a hard-earned answer:
You don’t own the strategy.
I know — that might sting. But let me explain why embracing that truth might be the most empowering thing you do as a product leader.
The Plan No One Followed
A few years ago, I was a product leader at a SaaS startup.
The founders trusted me to define the strategy.
I built what I thought was a solid plan. Clear priorities. Strong rationale. Great input from my PMs.
When I shared it?
Everyone nodded.
Smiled.
Agreed.
And then… nothing happened.
No momentum.
No follow-through.
No traction.
What I didn’t realize was: I had built a strategy for the product team — not with the organization.
I hadn’t involved Sales.
I hadn’t looped in Finance.
I hadn’t aligned with Marketing.
So while I was proud of what we made, it didn’t matter. It was a siloed artifact. And a siloed strategy is just a pitch deck with no buy-in.
Strategy Is a Shared Story
Here’s what I’ve come to believe:
Strategy is not a doc. Not a roadmap. Not a vision slide.
It’s the shared story your company tells — and believes.
And if you want that story to spread, you can’t write it alone.
The truth is, a lot of us in product leadership feel this quiet pressure to “prove we belong.”
We’re trying to validate ourselves — often without ever seeing strategic facilitation modeled.
As ICs, we were captains of our own ships.
As leaders, the ship is now the organization.
And that shift — from product-focused to org-focused — changes everything.
What It Looks Like to Facilitate Strategy
When you stop trying to own the strategy, you gain something more valuable:
Influence.
As a facilitator, you’re not dictating.
You’re setting the stage, surfacing the stakes, and guiding the conversation.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
You meet with Sales and ask what their customers need most.
You talk to Finance about how they’re thinking about investments and tradeoffs.
You bring early drafts of strategy to Marketing and invite critique.
You pull vision out of the execs, even if it's vague or aspirational.
You ask, “What does success look like for you this year?”
And then — when you put the strategy on the table — people say:
“That’s right.”
Or better yet:
“Wait, but what about…?”
That’s when you know the story is starting to stick.
The Monday Move
Here’s what I want you to do this week:
☕ Book one conversation with your Sales lead.
Don’t talk “strategy” yet.
Just ask about their goals, what they’re hearing in the field, and what frustrates them.
Start the dialogue. Build the bridge.
Sales and Product are often in natural tension — one wants to sell fast, the other wants to build right.
But when aligned, they become a force multiplier.
If Sales becomes your advocate?
The whole org starts listening differently.
Why It Matters
When product tries to own strategy in a vacuum, here’s what happens:
Sales sells around it
Marketing rewrites the narrative
Finance delays the funding
Teams push back silently
You can’t “ship alignment” after the roadmap is done.
Bad strategy is handed off. Good strategy is co-authored.
Good strategy creates a shared story, exposes the real tradeoffs, and builds forward motion because people see themselves in it.
This Week’s Checklist: Are You Facilitating Strategy?
Use this to gut-check your alignment:
✅ Have you had a proactive conversation with Sales this quarter?
✅ Does Marketing know what bets you’re placing — and why?
✅ Have you asked Finance what success looks like to them?
✅ Have you talked to at least one exec about the vision — without asking for approval?
✅ Have you shared your strategy in draft form to provoke feedback?
This is how you move from ownership to facilitation.
This is how you build the shared story.
Thanks for reading The Adam Thomas Product Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
One question before you go:
🧠 When was the last time someone presented a strategy to you… and you ignored it because it didn’t connect to your world?
That’s what we’re trying to avoid.
Let’s build stories people believe in — not just docs they nod through.
— Adam