| name | strategic-frameworks |
| description | PM strategy frameworks — Lean Canvas, BMC, OST, Pre-Mortem, North Star, PESTLE, Ansoff, Porter's Five Forces, Assumption Mapping — for discovery, validation, competitive analysis, growth strategy, and risk review |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, AskUserQuestion |
Strategic Frameworks — Domain Knowledge
Loaded into agents via skills: strategic-frameworks. Provides domain expertise for PM strategy facilitation — not execution logic. Agents read workflow files in workflows/ for step-by-step processes.
Overview
Seven battle-tested PM frameworks for product strategy, validation, and risk. Each framework maps to a specific lifecycle moment. Use the right tool at the right phase.
Frameworks
Lean Canvas
One-page business model. 9 sections covering problem, solution, UVP, unfair advantage, customer segments, channels, revenue, costs, and metrics.
Use when: validating a new product idea before committing to a PRD. Best in Phase 1 Discovery.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/lean-canvas.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/lean-canvas.yaml
Opportunity Solution Tree (OST)
4-level tree: desired outcome → opportunities (customer needs) → solutions → experiments. Forces outcome-first thinking over solution-first.
Use when: stuck on what to build next, or when the team is jumping to solutions without validating needs. Best in Phase 1-2.
Opportunity scoring: Importance × (1 − Satisfaction). Higher score = better opportunity.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/opportunity-solution-tree.md
Structure: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/opportunity-solution-tree.dot
Pre-Mortem
Imagine the product launched and failed. Work backward to identify risks before they happen. Produces tigers (real risks), paper tigers (overstated fears), and elephants (unspoken assumptions).
Use when: pre-launch risk review, sprint planning, stakeholder alignment. Best before Phase 3 Sprint.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/pre-mortem.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/pre-mortem.yaml
North Star Metric
Single metric that best captures the value your product delivers to customers. Paired with 3-5 input metrics owned by teams.
Use when: aligning product and business on what to optimize. Three business game types: Attention, Transaction, Productivity.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/north-star-metric.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/north-star-metric.yaml
PESTLE Analysis
Macro-environment scan across 6 dimensions: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental. Each dimension assessed for impact × probability.
Use when: launching in a new market, regulated space, or when external factors are high-risk. Best in Phase 1 Discovery.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/pestle-analysis.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/pestle-analysis.yaml
Ansoff Matrix
4-quadrant growth strategy tool: Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development, Diversification. Maps product × market combinations against risk.
Use when: defining growth strategy or evaluating expansion options. Best in strategic planning sessions.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/ansoff-matrix.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/ansoff-matrix.yaml
Porter's Five Forces
Competitive analysis across 5 forces: competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitutes, threat of new entrants. Produces an overall industry attractiveness score.
Use when: entering a new market, assessing competitive moat, or before a major product pivot.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/porters-five-forces.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/porters-five-forces.yaml
Business Model Canvas (BMC)
9-block model: Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships, Cost Structure. More comprehensive than Lean Canvas — covers operational and partner layers.
Use when: Lean Canvas is too narrow — validating an established or scaling business model, multi-sided platforms, or when partnerships and key activities are load-bearing. Best in Phase 1 Discovery for products beyond earliest ideation.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/business-model-canvas.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/business-model-canvas.yaml
Assumption Mapping × Impact/Risk
Surfaces every assumption the plan relies on, scores each by Impact (1–5) and Evidence (1–5), computes Risk Score = Impact × (5 − Evidence), and classifies into Leap of Faith / Watch / Validated / Low Stakes. Produces prioritized validation actions for the riskiest assumptions.
Use when: CONTEXT.md or PLAN.md contains 2+ mentions of "assumption," "hypothesis," or "we think" — or before any high-stakes commit (PLAN.md, GTM launch, major architecture decision). Triggered deterministically at Phase 2 [Plan] by .claude/rules/pm-frameworks.md.
Workflow: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/assumption-mapping.md
Schema: skills/strategic-frameworks/workflows/assumption-mapping.yaml
Framework Selection Guide
| Situation | Best Framework |
|---|
| New idea, validate business model | Lean Canvas |
| Established or scaling model, multi-sided platform | Business Model Canvas |
| Stuck on what to build | Opportunity Solution Tree |
| Pre-launch risk review | Pre-Mortem |
| Team misaligned on success | North Star Metric |
| New market or regulated space | PESTLE Analysis |
| Growth strategy choices | Ansoff Matrix |
| Competitive positioning | Porter's Five Forces |
| Plan has unvalidated assumptions | Assumption Mapping |
Output
All frameworks write to .strategic-frameworks/{name}-{date}.yaml and append a Working Notes row to .prd/PRD-STATE.md. Field schemas defined in skills/strategic-frameworks/output-schemas.yaml.
Common Rationalizations
| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|
| "The idea is obvious, skip the canvas" | Lean Canvas takes 15 minutes. A wrong pivot takes 3 months. |
| "We know the risks" | Pre-Mortem surfaces elephants — things the team knows but won't say. You can't self-report your own blind spots. |
| "North Star is just a vanity metric exercise" | NSM forces explicit choice between attention, transaction, and productivity games. Without it, teams optimize different things. |
| "Porter's is too academic" | It's a structured way to surface buyer/supplier leverage before you're locked into contracts. 20 minutes now saves months of negotiation. |
| "We don't need all dimensions in PESTLE" | Skip a dimension and it becomes the one that bites you at launch. Run all 6. |
Verification
