Set a strategy
Give a project the vision, objectives and key results that Adduce reads signals against, either by answering three questions or by writing them yourself.
A strategy is the direction a project steers by: a short narrative, the objectives under it, and the key results that say whether each objective is being met. Signals are read against it, and the Watcher's warnings refer back to it.
Before you begin
- Role: project Editor or Lead. Anyone else can read the strategy, and the page tells them to ask an editor to set it.
- Optional: a source that has synced, so the AI setup can draw on the project's themes as well as your answers.
- Time: ten minutes, most of it waiting for the research.
Steps
Open the project and choose Strategy under Signals. A project with no strategy shows Set this project's direction with two ways in: Set up with AI, or Add an objective to write it yourself.
For the AI route, choose Set up with AI. Strategy setup has four steps: Product, Competitors, Research and Review. Under Tell us about the product, answer What are you building?, Who is it for? and What matters most right now? and choose Next: competitors.
Under Who are you up against?, name up to five competitors with an optional Website, or leave the list empty and the research covers the market broadly. Choose Start research. The run takes a few minutes; you can leave the page, and the rail's Setup section offers Resume setup until it is done.
Under Review the draft, edit anything: the Narrative (Vision, Strategy, Direction), each objective's Title and Timeframe, and each key result's Direction, Start, Target and Unit. Nothing is saved until you choose Create strategy. Running setup again later archives the current objectives and replaces the narrative; their history stays.
For the manual route, or to extend a drafted strategy, choose Add objective. Give it a Title, a Description, a Timeframe and a Status, then add key results from the objective's ⋯ menu: a Name, a Target, the Current and Baseline values, a Unit, a Direction (Increase, Decrease or Maintain) and a Status. Edit narrative in the header sets the three narrative lines.
Read the status line under the header. It counts key results that are off track, at risk, or waiting for a measurement, and Open warnings leads to Needs attention, where each warning names its condition and can be acknowledged. A key result's ⋯ menu offers Record measurement for one checked by hand, or Monitor this result for one read from a connected metric.
Why
A theme is only interesting relative to what you are trying to achieve. The strategy is what turns "support volume rose" into "the retention objective is at risk", which is the sentence a brief needs to argue from.
If it did not work
Why does the page tell me to ask an editor?
You hold Commenter or Viewer on this project. Setting the strategy needs Editor or Lead, and the setup wizard sends anyone else back to the Strategy page.
Why did the research fail?
The run reports Research failed and keeps your answers. Choose Retry, or Start over to answer again; nothing was saved to the project.
Why does a key result say not measured yet?
Nobody has recorded a measurement and no monitor is attached. Use Record measurement or Monitor this result from its menu.
What's next
Work with briefs
Read a brief in Adduce, move it through its statuses, record decisions on its open questions, and discuss it with your team in comments.
Manage members and roles
See who is in your Adduce workspace, change what someone can do, take access away, and find out why you cannot change your own role.