Traction is crucial. Product strategy is inert if the team cannot make a simple series of moves and respond to changes in the playing field. Where traction is low, we identify what the team is responding to, and reshape the game or rebuild their view of the playing field. We get the team making deliberate moves, in useful sequence, toward a strategic direction.
Where traction is good, and an unclear path is ahead — new customer demand, major ecosystem shift, or a play into adjacent space — I consult on long-term directions and the short-term sequences which open them for play.
Three ways to work together
- Strategic Sparring. We sharpen your view and increase your options for directing a challenging stream of work. I am a map-maker and a critical thinking partner.
- Product Consulting. We find the best approach to a timely and critical product challenge. I am an investigator and advisor, modeling streams of internal and external activity.
- Embedded Player-Coach. We help a team engage the gameplay-strategy engine, playing one good move at a time and learning to respond to the field. I am an embedded researcher, product coach, and design advisor.
My context
I've been working inside product organizations since 2010, building research programs into forward looking teams. I worked in telecoms, online grocery, construction software, home services, and an academic social network all while developing as a research, strategist, and manager.
I began consulting in 2020 to explore the larger space of strategy and product delivery — informed, of course, by just the right level of situational awareness. I work with a handful of clients each year. I write about what I'm learning in The Product Game. And I'm always interested to talk about product org challenges and strategic problems.
Explore your options
Send a note to dave@davesresearch.com and we can talk. Tell me what you're seeing and I'll tell you what I see, too.
If you want help, and I can help, I'll describe how that would work.
If I'm not the right person, I'll point you toward someone smart who may be.
