Week 2: Set the foundation and aim

Week 2 is when you see the plan. We turn the audits and the kickoff into a strategy, then aim it together: by the end of the week, we both know exactly where we're going.

This is the detailed version of the "Week 2: Set the foundation and aim" stretch in the Growth Accelerator. Week 1 was about getting your inputs. This week you get something to react to.

Your strategy, on a page

We turn the audits and what we heard at kickoff into a plan: three to five topics to own, and the first one we go after. We pick one place to start instead of spreading thin, because going deep on the right topic builds authority and a little of everything builds none.

Treat the plan as a head start, not a contract to approve line by line. This is how we'd prioritize if it were our business: take it and steer. We roll your feedback into the plan and get strategy sign-off by the end of the week.

We also set the foundation we'll measure against: the focus areas that matter to your business. We confirm them with you, so what we track matches how you think about your market.

Opportunities to react to

A plan stays abstract until you see the actual work, so we line up a focused set of opportunities: concrete enough to react to. You go through them and approve the ones that point us at the right work.

We keep the set small on purpose, because this week is about agreement on direction, not volume. Once the direction is set, we scale up so there's always work ready ahead of you.

A first look at your workspace

We'll walk you through your workspace: your focus areas, your page portfolio, the opportunities lined up, and how publishing works. While we're in there, we gut-check the topic clusters, the competitive set, and the focus areas against how you see your market.

It's a light look, not a deep dive.

What we need from you

This is the week your input aims the work:

• React to the strategy. Tell us where the three to five topics and the first place to start feel right or wrong.
• Approve the first opportunities. Go through the set we've lined up and approve the ones that point us at the right work.
• Gut-check the clusters, competitors, and focus areas. Tell us whether they match how you see your market.

What's next

By the end of the week the direction is agreed, the first opportunities are approved, and you've had a first look at your workspace. Next is Week 3: define great and calibrate, where we teach the system your voice.