In 2018, I got some tough feedback that I needed to "be more strategic." Honestly it ground my gears. It’s an annoyingly vague, is sometimes used to mean many different things (just like “executive presence” and “better communication”). However! I think I’ve cracked it, at least for me. The good news is that it’s actually pretty easy to change your ways once you know what the f*ck the feedback means.

There’s usually two pieces of “being” more strategic:

1. Thinking strategically
2. Communicating strategically

The good news is that there’s a pretty simple framework to help you with both — and I think I’ve finally gotten it to a place where I can share with others. I call it "The Strategic Layer Cake."

The Strategic Layer Cake

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I won’t bury it, here's the key insight: To think and communicate strategically, you must think and communicate at the current conversation's level or one level UP. You can occasionally dip one level down to address specific risks or implementation concerns, but this should represent no more than 5% of your contribution. When you get feedback about being "more strategic," what people are really asking is for you to resist the urge to dive into implementation details. Instead, focus on the "can we" and "should we" questions at your current level or above.

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Understanding the Layer Cake

Every business conversation happens at a specific level of abstraction. Think of these levels as layers in a cake, stacked from bottom to top:

• Personal details (individual work)
• Execution details (how we do things)
• Plan details (what we'll do)
• Team details (how teams operate)
• Cross-team details (how teams interact)
• Business details (company-wide decisions)
• Market details (industry and competitive landscape)

A Real-World Example: Retail Strategy

Let's make this concrete with an example from retail. Imagine you're a buyer at a department store:

• Market level: "How is consumer footwear spending evolving?"
• Business level: "Should we continue selling shoes as a category?"
• Cross-team level: "How does footwear complement our other departments?"
• Team level: "What's our shoe buying strategy?"
• Execution level: "Which specific shoes should we stock?"
• Personal level: "How do I manage my shoe inventory workload?"

If you're in a meeting discussing whether to continue selling shoes (business level), bringing up specific inventory management challenges (execution level) would be considered non-strategic. Instead, a strategic contribution might be asking, "How does footwear contribute to our overall brand positioning?"

The Tech Industry Perspective

This framework is equally applicable in technology. Consider a SaaS product discussion:

• Market level: "What problems are enterprises struggling with?"
• Business level: "What role does our product play in the market?"
• Cross-team level: "How does this product integrate with our suite?"
• Team level: "What are our product goals?"
• Execution level: "Which features should we build?"
• Personal level: "How do I organize my development tasks?"

If you’re in a meeting discussing product goals, discussing potential features would be considered non-strategic. Instead, consider things at the cross-team level or business details level.

Tips for Developing Strategic Muscle

1. Know Your Level: Before speaking, identify the current conversation's level in the layer cake.
2. Look Up, Not Down: When in doubt, ask questions about the level above rather than making statements about the level below.
3. Consider Broader Impact: Strategic thinking requires understanding how decisions affect multiple stakeholders, not just your immediate sphere.
4. Separate Thinking from Communication: Use a notebook to capture tactical thoughts privately, keeping your public communication focused on the strategic level.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Diving into implementation details during strategy discussions
• Only considering personal impact rather than organizational impact