tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

Name: tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options
Author: product-on-purpose

486stars64forks

How to install tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options?

product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

$npx -y skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

Installs into the current project.

Summary

Day 2 morning move of a Foundation Sprint. Forces generation of 3 to 7 candidate approaches as one-page summaries before the team converges on a top bet. Use after Day 1 is signed and before Magic Lenses on Day 2 afternoon. Enforces a minimum of 3 approaches to prevent first-idea

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SKILL.md

1	<!-- PM-Skills \| https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills \| Apache 2.0 -->
2
3	# Foundation Sprint Approach Options
4
5	Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint. The team forces itself to generate multiple plausible approaches before committing to one. The skill enforces a minimum of 3 approaches; anchoring on a single approach is the most common Day 2 failure mode.
6
7	Family contract: [`docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md`](../../docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md). This skill is a member of `foundation-sprint-skills`.
8
9	## When to Use
10
11	- Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint.
12	- Day 1 is signed; the Mini Manifesto, decision principles, and differentiation chart are committed.
13	- The team is ready to generate candidate approaches before evaluating them through Magic Lenses in the afternoon.
14
15	## When NOT to Use
16
17	- Day 1 is unresolved. Approach Options without differentiation context produces approaches that miss the strategic position.
18	- The team has only one approach in mind and is unwilling to generate alternatives. The skill forces minimum 3; if the team refuses, the issue is sprint discipline, not tooling.
19	- More than 7 approaches are emerging organically. The skill caps generation at 7; beyond that the team is generating features, not strategic approaches.
20
21	## What This Skill Produces
22
23	A single bundled artifact containing:
24
25	1. 3 to 7 one-page approach summaries, each with:
26	- Name and label (color, letter, ID)
27	- One-sentence "what it is"
28	- "Why it's a good idea" rationale (1 short paragraph)
29	- Simple doodle or textual visual description
30	- How the approach serves the two chosen differentiators
31	2. Approach set summary table comparing all approaches at a glance (label, name, capture mechanism, recall mechanism, primary trade-off).
32
33	See `references/TEMPLATE.md` for the canonical structure and `references/EXAMPLE.md` for the Brainshelf example.
34
35	## Sequence (75 minutes)
36
37	### Step 1: Frame the approach space (5 min)
38
39	The facilitator restates the differentiation: "We are committing to [differentiator 1] and [differentiator 2]. Approaches that fail either of these are out of scope." This sets the boundary; the team generates inside it, not outside it.
40
41	### Step 2: Silent ideation (15-20 min)
42
43	Each team member generates 2-4 candidate approaches silently. Cluster duplicates. Surface 8-12 candidates.
44
45	### Step 3: Cluster and select 3-7 (15-25 min via Decider call)
46
47	The team clusters similar approaches and the Decider narrows to 3-7 candidates that will be one-page-summarized. The 3-minimum is enforced; if the team produces 2 candidates after clustering, push the team back to ideation to generate at least one more.
48
49	### Step 4: One-page summarize each approach (25-40 min)
50
51	Each team member takes 1-2 approaches and writes the one-page summary. Each summary names:
52
53	- Label: a color, letter, or short identifier (Yellow, Blue, Approach A, etc.)
54	- What it is: one sentence the customer would understand
55	- Why it's a good idea: short paragraph naming the customer value and the team's ability to deliver
56	- Visual: a simple doodle or textual description of what the customer sees or does
57	- How it serves the differentiators: one or two lines per chosen differentiator
58
59	### Step 5: Cross-summary review (5-10 min)
60
61	The team reviews the full set, flagging summaries that don't fit the differentiators or that overlap so heavily with another approach that they're duplicates. The Decider approves the set advancing to Magic Lenses.
62
63	## Approach Generation Discipline
64
65	The skill enforces five rules at decision-point:
66
67	1. Minimum 3, maximum 7. Fewer than 3 means the team is anchored on one idea; more than 7 means the team is generating features.
68	2. Each approach must be a strategic path, not a feature. "Add a settings screen" is a feature; "make capture the

product-on-purposePublisher · 67 listings

Preview

product-on-purpose/pm-skills

# Foundation Sprint Approach Options

Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint. The team forces itself to generate multiple plausible approaches before committing to one. The skill enforces a minimum of

Family contract: [`docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md`](../../docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md

Repoproduct-on-purpose/pm-skills

LicenseApache-2.0

TypeSkills

CategoryGeneral

UpdatedJul 2026

Repo stars486

First seenJul 22, 2026

People who liked this also viewed

6 picks

Type

tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

486stars64forks

View on GitHub

How to install tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options?

product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

$npx -y skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill tool-foundation-sprint-approach-options

Installs into the current project.

Summary

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	<!-- PM-Skills \| https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills \| Apache 2.0 -->
2
3	# Foundation Sprint Approach Options
4
5	Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint. The team forces itself to generate multiple plausible approaches before committing to one. The skill enforces a minimum of 3 approaches; anchoring on a single approach is the most common Day 2 failure mode.
6
7	Family contract: [`docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md`](../../docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md). This skill is a member of `foundation-sprint-skills`.
8
9	## When to Use
10
11	- Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint.
12	- Day 1 is signed; the Mini Manifesto, decision principles, and differentiation chart are committed.
13	- The team is ready to generate candidate approaches before evaluating them through Magic Lenses in the afternoon.
14
15	## When NOT to Use
16
17	- Day 1 is unresolved. Approach Options without differentiation context produces approaches that miss the strategic position.
18	- The team has only one approach in mind and is unwilling to generate alternatives. The skill forces minimum 3; if the team refuses, the issue is sprint discipline, not tooling.
19	- More than 7 approaches are emerging organically. The skill caps generation at 7; beyond that the team is generating features, not strategic approaches.
20
21	## What This Skill Produces
22
23	A single bundled artifact containing:
24
25	1. 3 to 7 one-page approach summaries, each with:
26	- Name and label (color, letter, ID)
27	- One-sentence "what it is"
28	- "Why it's a good idea" rationale (1 short paragraph)
29	- Simple doodle or textual visual description
30	- How the approach serves the two chosen differentiators
31	2. Approach set summary table comparing all approaches at a glance (label, name, capture mechanism, recall mechanism, primary trade-off).
32
33	See `references/TEMPLATE.md` for the canonical structure and `references/EXAMPLE.md` for the Brainshelf example.
34
35	## Sequence (75 minutes)
36
37	### Step 1: Frame the approach space (5 min)
38
39	The facilitator restates the differentiation: "We are committing to [differentiator 1] and [differentiator 2]. Approaches that fail either of these are out of scope." This sets the boundary; the team generates inside it, not outside it.
40
41	### Step 2: Silent ideation (15-20 min)
42
43	Each team member generates 2-4 candidate approaches silently. Cluster duplicates. Surface 8-12 candidates.
44
45	### Step 3: Cluster and select 3-7 (15-25 min via Decider call)
46
47	The team clusters similar approaches and the Decider narrows to 3-7 candidates that will be one-page-summarized. The 3-minimum is enforced; if the team produces 2 candidates after clustering, push the team back to ideation to generate at least one more.
48
49	### Step 4: One-page summarize each approach (25-40 min)
50
51	Each team member takes 1-2 approaches and writes the one-page summary. Each summary names:
52
53	- Label: a color, letter, or short identifier (Yellow, Blue, Approach A, etc.)
54	- What it is: one sentence the customer would understand
55	- Why it's a good idea: short paragraph naming the customer value and the team's ability to deliver
56	- Visual: a simple doodle or textual description of what the customer sees or does
57	- How it serves the differentiators: one or two lines per chosen differentiator
58
59	### Step 5: Cross-summary review (5-10 min)
60
61	The team reviews the full set, flagging summaries that don't fit the differentiators or that overlap so heavily with another approach that they're duplicates. The Decider approves the set advancing to Magic Lenses.
62
63	## Approach Generation Discipline
64
65	The skill enforces five rules at decision-point:
66
67	1. Minimum 3, maximum 7. Fewer than 3 means the team is anchored on one idea; more than 7 means the team is generating features.
68	2. Each approach must be a strategic path, not a feature. "Add a settings screen" is a feature; "make capture the

product-on-purposePublisher · 67 listings

Preview

product-on-purpose/pm-skills

# Foundation Sprint Approach Options

Day 2 morning of a Foundation Sprint. The team forces itself to generate multiple plausible approaches before committing to one. The skill enforces a minimum of

Family contract: [`docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md`](../../docs/reference/skill-families/foundation-sprint-skills-contract.md

Repoproduct-on-purpose/pm-skills

LicenseApache-2.0

TypeSkills

CategoryGeneral

UpdatedJul 2026

Repo stars486

First seenJul 22, 2026

People who liked this also viewed

6 picks

Type