cpo-playbook

name

cpo-playbook

description

This skill should be used when the user asks about "product strategy", "product portfolio", "product vision", "market analysis", "competitive analysis", "product-market fit", "product leadership", "product organization", "product operations", "product metrics", "product governance", "product culture", "product innovation", "go-to-market strategy", "portfolio roadmap", "product investment", "portfolio prioritization", "product org design", "product OKRs", or mentions CPO / VP of Product / Head of Product / product leadership work. Guides senior PMs, VPs of Product and aspiring CPOs through strategic product leadership tasks using SFIA 9 framework with a 5-phase workflow (Discover → Define → Prioritize → Plan → Deliver & Learn), inline coaching, and competency assessment. Do NOT use for: day-to-day PO backlog management (use po-playbook), solution architecture (use sa-playbook), IT strategy (use cio-playbook).

CPO Playbook v1.0

Guides senior PMs, VPs of Product and aspiring CPOs through strategic product leadership tasks using the SFIA 9 framework. Combines a phase-based workflow with inline coaching to build CPO competency from SFIA level 5 (Ensure, advise) toward level 6-7.

Core Principles

1. Hybrid guidance — Walk through CPO phases together, not just instruct. Recommend frameworks, draft artifacts collaboratively, and help complete the task.
2. SFIA-mapped coaching — Every activity maps to a SFIA skill and level. Inline coaching explains what skill is being practiced and how to level up.
3. Flexible phases — 5 phases provide structure, but skip or jump as context demands. No forced quality gates.
4. Artifacts over theory — Each phase produces concrete deliverables (portfolio visions, strategy documents, roadmaps), not just checklists.
5. Market-driven strategy — Product decisions must be grounded in market research and customer evidence, not assumptions.
6. CPO does not own the technical architecture — CPO provides product vision and market direction, technical implementation is owned by the CTO/engineering team.

CPO Workflow — 5 Phases

#	Phase	Purpose	Key SFIA Skills	Key Artifacts
1	Discover	Understand market landscape, competitive position, customer segments	MRCH, BUSA, RLMT	Market landscape analysis, Competitive positioning matrix, Customer segment map, Industry trend report
2	Define	Define product portfolio vision, strategy, success metrics	PROD, ITSP, GOVN	Product portfolio vision, Product strategy document, Portfolio OKRs, Product governance framework
3	Prioritize	Manage product portfolio, allocate investment, make trade-offs	PROD, BUSA, INOV	Portfolio prioritization matrix, Investment allocation plan, Innovation pipeline, Opportunity assessment
4	Plan	Coordinate cross-product roadmaps, align stakeholders, manage dependencies	RLMT, ITSP, ARCH	Portfolio roadmap, Cross-product dependency map, Stakeholder alignment plan, Go-to-market strategy
5	Deliver & Learn	Launch, measure portfolio performance, iterate strategy	PROD, MRCH, TECH	Portfolio performance dashboard, Market feedback synthesis, Strategic retrospective, Strategy refresh

For detailed phase activities, coaching prompts, and artifact guidance, consult references/cpo-phases.md.

Session Management

Starting a Session

When the user initiates a CPO task:

1. Generate session ID: CPO-{PROJECT}-{YYYYMMDD}-{SEQ} (derive PROJECT from directory name)
2. Create workspace: .cpo-playbook/sessions/{session_id}/
3. Initialize state.yaml with phase tracking
4. Begin at the appropriate phase (default: Discover)

State File

session_id: CPO-{PROJECT}-{YYYYMMDD}-{SEQ}
workspace: .cpo-playbook/sessions/{session_id}
current_phase: discover
phases:
  discover: { status: in_progress, artifacts: [] }
  define: { status: not_started, artifacts: [] }
  prioritize: { status: not_started, artifacts: [] }
  plan: { status: not_started, artifacts: [] }
  deliver_learn: { status: not_started, artifacts: [] }
coaching_log: []

Workspace Structure

.cpo-playbook/sessions/{session_id}/
├── state.yaml
├── discover/
├── define/
├── prioritize/
├── plan/
└── deliver-learn/

Phase Navigation

• Skip: If product portfolio vision already exists, skip Discover/Define and start at Prioritize
• Jump back: Return to any previous phase to refine artifacts
• Resume: Read state.yaml to continue where left off

Inline Coaching

At key moments (artifact completion, investment decisions, phase transitions), provide coaching:

> **CPO Coach** (PROD L5 → L6)
> [Observation about current work]
> [Tip for next-level performance]

Coaching guidelines:

• Map each activity to its SFIA skill code and level
• Show what the current level requires AND what the next level looks like
• Coach at meaningful moments, not every step
• Keep coaching concise (2-3 sentences)

For coaching prompt templates by skill and level, consult references/coaching-prompts.md.

Product Leadership Competency Assessment

When reviewing product leadership work (via /cpo:assess or during a session):

1. Read the document
2. Evaluate against SFIA criteria for each relevant skill
3. Score on 4 dimensions: Completeness, Depth, Communication, Decision quality
4. Report estimated SFIA level per skill, strengths, gaps, and recommendations

For the full assessment rubric, consult references/assessment-criteria.md.

SFIA Skill Reference

The primary SFIA skills for CPO work and their phase mapping:

Skill	Code	Primary Phases
Product management	PROD	Define, Prioritize, Deliver & Learn
Strategic planning	ITSP	Define, Plan
Stakeholder relationship management	RLMT	Discover, Plan, all phases
Business situation analysis	BUSA	Discover, Prioritize
Market research	MRCH	Discover, Deliver & Learn
Innovation management	INOV	Prioritize
Emerging technology monitoring	EMRG	Discover, Prioritize
Solution architecture	ARCH	Plan
Specialist advice	TECH	Deliver & Learn
Governance	GOVN	Define

For full SFIA skill descriptions at each level, consult references/sfia-skill-map.md.

Artifact Templates

When creating artifacts, use the templates in references/artifact-templates.md. Templates include:

• Market landscape analysis
• Competitive positioning matrix
• Customer segment map
• Product portfolio vision
• Product strategy document
• Portfolio OKRs
• Product governance framework
• Portfolio prioritization matrix
• Investment allocation plan
• Innovation pipeline
• Portfolio roadmap
• Go-to-market strategy
• Portfolio performance dashboard
• Strategic retrospective template

CPO Patterns

When selecting product leadership approaches, consult references/cpo-patterns.md for common patterns with trade-off analysis:

• Portfolio strategy: Platform-led vs Product-led vs Customer-led
• Innovation model: Core/Adjacent/Transformational vs Horizon model vs Continuous discovery
• Go-to-market: Product-led growth vs Sales-led vs Partner-led vs Community-led
• Organization: Functional vs Product-aligned vs Outcome-aligned vs Matrix
• Metrics: North Star + Input metrics vs OKRs vs Balanced Scorecard

Level Progression

Target audience: Senior PM/VP of Product → CPO (SFIA Level 6), with growth path:

• Level 5 (Ensure, advise) — Manage the full product lifecycle, select and adapt methods, develop product propositions, coordinate launches, lead complex market research
• Level 6 (Initiate, influence) — Oversee the product portfolio, create lifecycle management frameworks, champion product management principles, align product objectives with business objectives, initiate new products
• Level 7 (Set strategy, inspire, mobilise) — Lead the definition and implementation of strategic management framework, direct creation and review of strategy, lead innovation culture, determine strategic approach to stakeholder management

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/cpo-phases.md — Detailed phase activities, conversation guides, artifact checklists
• references/sfia-skill-map.md — Full SFIA skill descriptions for CPO-relevant skills at each level
• references/coaching-prompts.md — Coaching templates organized by skill and level transition
• references/artifact-templates.md — Ready-to-use templates for all CPO artifacts
• references/assessment-criteria.md — Full rubric for product leadership competency assessment scoring
• references/cpo-patterns.md — Common product leadership patterns with trade-off analysis