Opportunities Solution Trees.

OSTs are a visual tool that helps break down strategic problems into smaller, manageable pieces and identify potential solutions. You can effectively visualize and prioritize solution opportunities, ensuring that your team focuses on the most impactful areas.

  1. Break Down the Problem
  • Start by identifying the main strategic problem you want to solve.
  • Decompose this problem into smaller, more specific issues. For example, if the goal is to drive self-serve sales, break it down into creating awareness, closing the first purchase, ensuring repeat purchases, and increasing transaction size
  1. Identify Opportunities
  • For each smaller issue, brainstorm potential opportunities or solutions that could address it.
  • Organize these opportunities hierarchically under each specific issue.
  1. Collaborate and Validate
  • Conduct workshops with cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering) to co-construct the OST.
  • Validate the feasibility and impact of each opportunity through discussions and testing
  1. Review and Adapt
  • Review the OST regularly (e.g., every 6 weeks) to incorporate learnings from experiments and adjust the tree as needed.
  • Use the OST to prioritize high-leverage opportunities and guide quarterly roadmap planning
  1. Communicate and Document
  • Use the OST to communicate the strategy and focus areas to the team and stakeholders.
  • Document the opportunities and learnings to create a knowledge repository for future reference