| 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
- Hybrid guidance — Walk through CPO phases together, not just instruct. Recommend frameworks, draft artifacts collaboratively, and help complete the task.
- 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.
- Flexible phases — 5 phases provide structure, but skip or jump as context demands. No forced quality gates.
- Artifacts over theory — Each phase produces concrete deliverables (portfolio visions, strategy documents, roadmaps), not just checklists.
- Market-driven strategy — Product decisions must be grounded in market research and customer evidence, not assumptions.
- 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:
- Generate session ID:
CPO-{PROJECT}-{YYYYMMDD}-{SEQ} (derive PROJECT from directory name)
- Create workspace:
.cpo-playbook/sessions/{session_id}/
- Initialize
state.yaml with phase tracking
- 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):
- Read the document
- Evaluate against SFIA criteria for each relevant skill
- Score on 4 dimensions: Completeness, Depth, Communication, Decision quality
- 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 checklistsreferences/sfia-skill-map.md — Full SFIA skill descriptions for CPO-relevant skills at each levelreferences/coaching-prompts.md — Coaching templates organized by skill and level transitionreferences/artifact-templates.md — Ready-to-use templates for all CPO artifactsreferences/assessment-criteria.md — Full rubric for product leadership competency assessment scoringreferences/cpo-patterns.md — Common product leadership patterns with trade-off analysis
