Priority vs. Competency

At the corporate level, most of my clients can look at their annual plan and tell you what the priorities are, and which activities are more or less important. As the leader of a product organization or champion of your product, however, your plan will certainly be pummeled with change: business priorities are fluid, market factors have impact, products progress through different points in their lifecycle and the overall portfolio is in a continuous state of flux. So how do you ensure that your product teams’ capabilities remain in tune with the prioritized objectives and that your team can execute the necessary tasks? Do you know where the gaps are and how those gaps map to what matters?

 

Given that markets are constantly changing and priorities shift, companies may find themselves with high competency in areas that are no longer identified as critical to success. Conversely, when organizational competency is lower than a particular priority, it may be time to consider shifting focus to bring them into alignment. Organizations should be considering where competency levels are misaligned with priorities and invest accordingly. One place to start is to consider your priorities for Commercial (outward facing) activities and Development *& Operations (internally focused) activities for a given plan year. Then plot those on a 2x2 for each area and see what they tell you.