Distinctive Competencies (Framework: Market → Distinctive Competencies)
Articulate and leverage the organization's unique abilities to deliver value to the
market. These are the strengths you intersect with validated market problems to find
opportunities that are ideal for you (see the market-problem test and the
opportunity-scoring attributes in ../pm-copilot/references/framework.md).
The test — an attribute is a distinctive competency only if it is all three
- Valued — the market actually cares about it (it maps to a real problem they'll pay to solve).
- Different — materially different from competitors and alternatives, not table stakes.
- Provable — you have proof (data, track record, patents, references), not just a claim.
Brainstorm broadly first (how you build, deliver, sell, and support), then filter hard.
Most candidate strengths fail the "different" or "provable" test — that's expected.
Interview the user (batch questions)
- Brainstorm: where does your organization deliver value across the whole lifecycle (build, deliver, sell, support, data, brand, relationships, IP)?
- For each attribute — is it materially different from competitors and alternatives?
- What's your proof it's both valued and different? (metrics, wins, patents, references)
- Which market problems (from
pm-market-problems) do these strengths let you solve better than anyone?
Artifact template
# Distinctive Competencies — <organization / product>
**Company:** <company> · **Feature / Product:** <feature / product name>
**Author:** <author> · **Date created:** <date> · **Version:** 1.0
Brainstorm attributes where your organization delivers value, then test each:
*valued? · materially different? · provable?*
| Attribute | Valued? (Y/N) | Different? (Y/N) | Proof |
| :--- | :---: | :---: | :--- |
| <attribute> | Y | Y | <evidence> |
| <attribute> | Y | N | <why it fails — table stakes> |
## Articulate your Distinctive Competencies
Based on this assessment, the attributes that are valued **and** different **and**
provable are:
1. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>
2. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>
3. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>
## How these map to market problems
| Distinctive Competency | Market problem it lets us win | Evidence |
| :-- | :-- | :-- |
Deliver the artifact
Follow ../pm-copilot/references/artifact-output.md: ask Markdown or .docx, write
the .md, convert to .docx on request via your environment's native document-creation capability. Then
offer the next stage: score opportunities against these strengths in
pm-opportunity-scoring, or set direction in pm-product-strategy.
1---2name: pm-distinctive-competence3description: Articulate your organization's Distinctive Competencies the Pragmatic Institute way — the unique abilities to deliver value that are valued, different, and provable. Use when a PM says "what makes us different", "our moat", "unique strengths", "why us", "competitive advantage", or "distinctive competence". Strategy = intersect market problems with what only you can do. Produces a Distinctive Competencies worksheet as a Markdown or Word .docx artifact.4---56# Distinctive Competencies (Framework: Market → Distinctive Competencies)78Articulate and leverage the organization's **unique abilities to deliver value to the9market.** These are the strengths you intersect with validated market problems to find10opportunities that are *ideal for you* (see the market-problem test and the11opportunity-scoring attributes in `../pm-copilot/references/framework.md`).1213## The test — an attribute is a distinctive competency only if it is all three14- **Valued** — the market actually cares about it (it maps to a real problem they'll pay to solve).15- **Different** — *materially* different from competitors and alternatives, not table stakes.16- **Provable** — you have proof (data, track record, patents, references), not just a claim.1718Brainstorm broadly first (how you build, deliver, sell, and support), then filter hard.19Most candidate strengths fail the "different" or "provable" test — that's expected.2021## Interview the user (batch questions)221. Brainstorm: where does your organization deliver value across the whole lifecycle (build, deliver, sell, support, data, brand, relationships, IP)?232. For each attribute — is it materially *different* from competitors and alternatives?243. What's your *proof* it's both valued and different? (metrics, wins, patents, references)254. Which market problems (from `pm-market-problems`) do these strengths let you solve better than anyone?2627## Artifact template2829```markdown30# Distinctive Competencies — <organization / product>3132**Company:** <company> · **Feature / Product:** <feature / product name>33**Author:** <author> · **Date created:** <date> · **Version:** 1.03435Brainstorm attributes where your organization delivers value, then test each:36*valued? · materially different? · provable?*3738| Attribute | Valued? (Y/N) | Different? (Y/N) | Proof |39| :--- | :---: | :---: | :--- |40| <attribute> | Y | Y | <evidence> |41| <attribute> | Y | N | <why it fails — table stakes> |4243## Articulate your Distinctive Competencies44Based on this assessment, the attributes that are valued **and** different **and**45provable are:46471. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>482. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>493. **Distinctive Competency:** <statement>5051## How these map to market problems52| Distinctive Competency | Market problem it lets us win | Evidence |53| :-- | :-- | :-- |54```5556## Deliver the artifact57Follow `../pm-copilot/references/artifact-output.md`: **ask Markdown or .docx**, write58the `.md`, convert to `.docx` on request via your environment's native document-creation capability. Then59offer the next stage: score opportunities against these strengths in60**`pm-opportunity-scoring`**, or set direction in **`pm-product-strategy`**.
julianoczkowski