define-strategic-pillars

Skill: Define strategic pillars

Purpose

FromvisionandNorth Starderive3-5 strategic pillars(high-level themes), to structure and guide strategic objectives and the roadmap. Produce a pillars document so that objectives and the roadmap can be grouped under the pillars. Do not define mission, vision, North Star, objectives, milestones, or roadmap.

Difference between pillars and objectives：

Pillar = a direction of ongoing investment (it will not "complete"; it is an indispensable structural element, such as "reliable operation")
Objective = a specific result to be achieved in that direction (whether it is achieved can be judged, such as "rollback rate below 5%")

Pillars are indispensable—missing one means a structural gap. Objectives change with phases, but pillars remain stable.

Core Objective

Primary objective: Produce a user-confirmed strategic pillars document containing 3-5 pillars (themes) aligned with the vision and North Star, and adhere to the path agreed for the project.

Success criteria(all requirements must be met):

✅ 3-5 pillars documented: exactly 3-5 strategic pillars, each with a clear name and a brief description (what the pillar represents).
✅ Theme level: each pillar is a high-level theme or strategic direction of ongoing investment, not a completable objective or specific initiative.
✅ Aligned with the vision: each pillar supports the vision; the alignment is explicit or obvious.
✅ North Star connection: at least one pillar clearly supports or frames the North Star; optional: each pillar briefly explains "how this supports the vision/NSM".
✅ User confirmation: the user explicitly approves (e.g., "approved", "looks good", "continue", or equivalent).
✅ Document persistence: write to the agreed path (default docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md or each project specification).

Acceptancetest: can the reader see how each pillar structures the strategy and how objectives or roadmap themes can be grouped under them?

Handoff point: when the pillars are approved and retained, hand off to "design-strategic-objectives" (objectives can be mapped to pillars) or "define-roadmap" (roadmap themes can be aligned with pillars); this skill does not define objectives or the roadmap.

Scope boundaries

This skill is responsible for：

Eliciting and documenting 3-5 strategic pillars (high-level themes).
Ensuring alignment with the vision and North Star (read from "define-vision"/"define-north-star" outputs or existing documents).
Adhering to the path agreed for the project (default "docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md").
Optional: annotate each pillar with how it supports the vision or North Star.

This skill is not responsible for：

Defining the mission, vision, or North Star (use "define-mission", "define-vision", "define-north-star").
Defining strategic objectives or milestones (use "design-strategic-objectives", "define-milestones").
Defining the roadmap (usedefine-路线图）。

Use cases

After vision and North Star: Establish 3-5 pillars to build the organizational way of goals and roadmap.
Strategic structure: Provide a set of stable themes to group goals and initiatives (e.g., "Product Excellence", "Customer Success", "Operational Efficiency").
Before or together with goals: Run before or at the same time as "Design Strategic Goals" so that goals can map to pillars.
Fourth layer in the strategic chain: Follow mission, vision, and North Star when building the full hierarchy (Mission→Vision→North Star→Pillars→Goals→Milestones→Roadmap).

Behaviors (Behaviors)

Interaction (Interaction) Policy

Default: The output path of the project specification (if it exists); otherwise "docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md". If available, read the vision and North Star from "docs/project-overview/".
Choose options: If the user has more than 5 candidate pillars, offer prioritization or merge into 3-5; ask the user to confirm the final set.
Confirm: Before overwriting the existing strategic pillars file; before final adherence.

Execution process

Load vision and North Star: Read docs/project-overview/vision.md and docs/project-overview/north-star.md or the summary provided by the user.
Elicit: Which 3-5 high-level themes or pillars will structure the strategy and guide goals/roadmap?
Draft pillars: Theme level (e.g., "Customer First", "Operational Excellence"); not goals or initiatives.
Check alignment: Each pillar supports the vision; at least one clearly supports or frames the North Star.
Persist: Write to the project-agreed path; if missing, create "docs/project-overview/". Optional: add "How this supports the vision/NSM" for each pillar.

Input & Output (Input & Output)

Input：

Required: Vision; North Star (or path); project context.
Optional: Mission; existing goals or pillars; constraints (e.g., organizational structure).

Output：

Artifact: Strategic pillars document.
Location：docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md(or according to the project specification).
Content: List of 3-5 pillars (name, short description); optional mapping to vision/NSM.
Lifecycle: Living (update when the vision or strategic direction changes).

Limits (Limits)

Hard Boundaries (Hard Boundaries)

Do not define mission, vision, North Star, goals, milestones, or roadmap in this skill.
Do not overwrite an existing strategic pillars file without explicit user confirmation.

Boundary skills (Skill boundaries) (avoid overlap)

Do not do these (other skills can handle them)：

Mission/Vision/North Star: Usedefine-mission、define-vision、define-north-star。
Strategic goals: Use设计-战略-目标; goals can map to pillars.
Milestones/Roadmap: Usedefine-里程碑、define-路线图。

When to stop and hand off：

User says "approved" or equivalent → pillars are complete; offer handoff to "Design strategic goals" or "Define roadmap".
User asks about goals or roadmap → switch to "Design-Strategy-Goals" or "Define-Roadmap".

Self-Check

Core success criteria (all criteria must be met)

3–5 pillars recorded: each pillar has a name and a short description.
Theme-level: pillars are themes/directions, not goals or initiatives.
Aligned with the vision: each pillar supports the vision; explicit or obvious alignment.
North Star connection: at least one pillar supports or frames the North Star.
User confirmation: user says "approved", "looks good", "continue", or similar.
Document retention: write to the agreed path.

Process quality check

Use vision/NSM: did I read or request the vision and North Star before drafting the pillars?
No goals in pillars: did I avoid writing outcome goals (those belong to Design strategic goals)?
Pillars are indispensable: would removing any one pillar cause the strategy to be structurally incomplete? If not, that pillar may be a goal or initiative rather than a pillar.
Pillars are not completable: does each pillar describe a continuing direction rather than a result that can be judged as achieved?

Acceptance test

Can the reader understand how each pillar structures the strategy and how goals or roadmap themes are grouped under them?

If no: clarify the pillar descriptions and alignment. If yes: pillars are complete. Continue handoff or stop.

Examples (Examples)

Example 1: Vision and North Star exist, define pillars

Context: Vision and North Star documents exist. The user wants strategic pillars to structure goals and the roadmap.

Process: Read the vision and North Star. Propose 3-5 pillars (e.g. "discoverability", "reusability", "governance", "ecosystem"). Add a short description of each pillar and how it supports the vision/NSM. User confirms. Write to "docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md".

Result: Pillars persist; hand off to "Design strategic goals" or "Define roadmap".

Example 2: Goals already exist

Context: A strategic goals document exists; the user wants to add a pillar layer to the structure.

Process: Read the vision, North Star, and existing goals. Propose pillars that group or frame the existing goals (e.g., group the goals into 3-5 themes). User confirms. Write to "docs/project-overview/strategic-pillars.md". If needed, suggest updating the goals document to reference the pillars.

Result: Pillars persist; goals can be explicitly mapped to pillars in a later process.