Organic Growth Advisor

Purpose

Help product managers identify which organic growth path to pursue by diagnosing where the constraint actually lives. This is not a comprehensive strategy tool. It is a fast triage that puts you in the right lane before you start building hypotheses or running experiments.

The four growth paths covered here are drawn from the McKinsey Growth Pyramid (Levels 2 through 5). Levels 1, 6, and 7 are out of scope: Level 1 (existing products to existing customers) is a retention and optimization problem, not a growth motion. Levels 6 and 7 (new industry structure, new arenas) require capital and executive mandate beyond typical product team scope.

This skill does three things and nothing more:

1. Diagnoses where your growth constraint lives using two questions
2. Places your situation on the Growth Path Matrix (customer/market context vs. degree of product change)
3. Recommends one growth path with rationale, a diagnostic question, and a first experiment

Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)

• Not a rigorous diagnostic instrument: A fast triage tool, not a scoring model
• Not a maturity model or rubric: No stages, no grades, no weighted criteria
• Not a substitute for customer discovery: It points you in a direction; discovery validates it
• Not a guarantee: If the recommendation does not feel right, that tension is worth exploring

When to Use This Skill

• Growth is stalling and you are unsure which lever to pull next
• Multiple growth paths seem viable and you need to choose one to test first
• You want to set up an AI-assisted experiment with a clear hypothesis
• A team or stakeholder debate about growth direction needs a fast resolution

When NOT to Use This Skill