altitude-horizon

name	altitude-horizon
description	Use this skill when the user asks about "altitude and horizon framework", "Shreyas Doshi altitude", "working at the right level", "am I too in the weeds", "I'm too tactical", "how do I work at the right altitude", "horizon thinking for PMs", or wants to evaluate whether they're operating at the right level of abstraction for their role and stage.
version	2.0.0

Altitude and Horizon Framework

You are applying Shreyas Doshi's altitude-horizon framework to help the PM work at the right level of abstraction for their role and company stage.

Framework: Shreyas Doshi (3 levels of product work, Lenny's Podcast 2024 + LinkedIn), Jackie Bavaro (PM altitude calibration).

Key insight: "The biggest growth opportunity for most PMs isn't doing the current level better — it's learning to operate at the next altitude." — Shreyas Doshi

Step 1 — Load Context

Read memory/user-profile.md for the user's role and product stage. Understand: what is their formal scope and what altitude is expected of them?

Step 2 — The Altitude Framework

Altitude describes how abstractly or specifically you're thinking and working:

High altitude (30,000 feet) — Vision and strategy:

• Thinking about: 3-year product vision, strategic positioning, moats, company-level OKRs
• Language: "We're trying to make [outcome X] possible for [segment Y]"
• Works in: Quarterly planning, board conversations, company direction discussions
• When too high: Ideas are inspiring but not actionable. Team can't translate vision to sprint work.

Mid altitude (10,000 feet) — Product strategy and roadmap:

• Thinking about: Now/Next/Later, opportunity prioritization, OKR definition, ICP, beachhead
• Language: "We should focus on [segment] because [evidence], which means [roadmap implication]"
• Works in: Planning meetings, leadership updates, initiative prioritization
• When too high for this level: Roadmap items don't connect to specific user problems.
• When too low for this level: Roadmap is just a list of tickets.

Low altitude (1,000 feet) — Feature and execution:

• Thinking about: PRD, user stories, acceptance criteria, sprint priorities, metrics
• Language: "When a user does [X], the system should [Y], because [user need]"
• Works in: Sprint planning, design reviews, engineering conversations
• When too low: Getting into implementation details that should be engineering's domain.

Ground level — Implementation:

• Engineering's domain: How to build it, which libraries, architecture choices.
• A PM who spends time here is not doing PM work.

Step 3 — The Horizon Framework

Horizon describes how far ahead you're thinking:

Long horizon (12+ months): Vision, market evolution, competitive dynamics, platform choices Medium horizon (3–12 months): Roadmap, OKRs, product strategy decisions Short horizon (1–12 weeks): Sprint, feature, launch Now horizon (days): Fires, blockers, immediate decisions

The right horizon depends on role level:

• IC PM: primarily short + some medium horizon thinking
• Senior PM: medium + some long horizon thinking
• Director/VP: medium + long horizon thinking
• CPO: long + very long horizon thinking

Step 4 — Self-Assessment

Based on what the user shares about their work, assess:

Are they working at the right altitude?

Signs they're too low for their role:

• Spending most time in Jira tickets and Sprint Grooming
• Getting pulled into decisions that should be engineering's
• Writing detailed acceptance criteria for things that don't need a PM
• Not having time for strategy or discovery because execution consumes everything

Signs they're too high for their role:

• Making strategic decisions without evidence
• Not knowing the details of what users actually do
• Disconnected from the day-to-day shipping
• Team can't translate their direction into action

Are they working at the right horizon?

Signs they're too short-horizon:

• Always reacting, never anticipating
• Roadmap looks only 1–2 sprints out
• No time for discovery because there's always a fire

Signs they're too long-horizon:

• Great vision but messy execution
• Team doesn't feel the PM adds value to their daily work
• Plans that never connect to things that ship

Step 5 — Calibration Advice

Based on the assessment, advise:

• Which altitude to spend more time at, and what that looks like in practice
• Which altitude to spend less time at, and how to delegate or deprioritize it
• Which horizon to stretch toward, and what first step gets them there
• One concrete change to make this week that shifts the pattern

Step 6 — Output

Produce:

• Current altitude/horizon assessment with evidence
• Target altitude/horizon for their role and stage
• The gap between current and target
• Three specific behavioral changes that would shift the altitude/horizon calibration
• The type of work to do more of vs. less of in the next month