Who This Helps
This is for team leads who are tired of strategy whiplash. You know your team needs a shared view of the market, but building it feels like a big, messy project. The Strategy Basics: Competitive Map course turns that project into a simple weekly habit.
Mini Case
Aisha’s product team was debating three different priorities. Each was backed by a different ‘gut feel’ about their biggest competitor. They spent 2 hours arguing in circles. Then, they ran the Competitive Map mission ‘Competitor Set.’ In 45 minutes, they agreed on the right three competitors to watch, not the ten they used to track. The next week, a feature decision that used to take 3 meetings was settled in one 30-minute huddle.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Block 45 minutes every Tuesday morning. Call it ‘Market Pulse.’ Consistency is your secret weapon.
- Pick one mission from the course each week. Start with ‘Competitor Set’ to define who you’re really playing against.
- Gather your core 3-5 people. Product, marketing, and one ops person is the perfect mix.
- Use a simple doc or whiteboard. The goal is the conversation, not a fancy deck.
- End with one agreed ‘so what’ action. Assign an owner and a due date before you leave. This turns talk into traction.
Avoid These Traps
- Trying to map the entire universe. The course problem says it perfectly: ‘Aisha must choose the right competitor set, not every logo in the market.’ Focus is everything.
- Letting it become a reporting session. This is a working meeting. If you’re just presenting slides, you’re doing it wrong.
- Skipping weeks. The ritual dies if you let ‘busy work’ cancel it. Protect the time like a critical product launch.
- Getting lost in evidence. You need a clean comparison grid, but ‘perfect’ data is the enemy of ‘good enough’ to decide. Use what you have.
Your Win by Friday
By this Friday, you’ll have held your first huddle. You’ll walk out with one clear page—your first strategy artifact—that shows where you win and where you lose against your real competitors. No more debates based on old assumptions. Your team will have a shared north star, and you’ll have reclaimed hours of meeting time. That’s a pretty good week.