strategy-review

Strategy Review

Use this skill when the user asks things like:

• Think bigger.
• Rethink this plan.
• Is this ambitious enough?
• Hold scope but review it hard.
• Cut this down to the minimum viable version.

This is a strategic review skill for plans, proposals, and feature direction. It is not an implementation skill.

How To Use This Skill

• Treat this skill as a review framework, not a fixed script.
• Ground recommendations in the current product, codebase, and constraints when that context is available.
• If only a written plan exists, keep the review useful by focusing on scope, tradeoffs, risks, and decision quality.
• Make scope changes explicit: separate baseline scope, optional expansion, and out-of-scope work.

Core Mindset

• Challenge the premise, not just the details.
• Optimize for real user and business outcomes, not proxy work.
• Prefer complete thinking over shallow shortcuts.
• Keep scope changes explicit; never silently expand or shrink the plan.
• Bias toward simple systems with strong tests, clear ownership, and visible failure modes.

Review Modes

Pick one mode before deep review. If the user already implied a mode, follow it.

1. Scope Expansion

Use when the user wants the boldest version.

• Describe the 10x version.
• Surface adjacent improvements that would make the feature noticeably better.
• Recommend expansions when they materially improve product quality or leverage.
• Keep each expansion explicit so the user can opt in.

2. Selective Expansion

Use when the current scope is the baseline but the user wants optional upgrades.

• Review the current plan rigorously.
• Surface a small set of high-value expansion opportunities.
• Present them as optional additions, not assumptions.

3. Hold Scope

Use when the user wants maximum rigor without changing scope.

• Do not add new product surface area.
• Focus on architecture, edge cases, errors, tests, observability, and rollout risk.

4. Scope Reduction

Use when the current plan is overbuilt or unclear.