strategic-plays

# Strategic Plays Skill

Identify strategic options and gameplay patterns from Wardley Maps for competitive advantage.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

- **Strategic Plays tasks** - Working on identify strategic options and gameplay patterns from wardley maps
- **Planning or design** - Need guidance on Strategic Plays approaches
- **Best practices** - Want to follow established patterns and standards

## MANDATORY: Documentation-First Approach

Before identifying strategic plays:

1. **Invoke `docs-management` skill** for strategic patterns
2. **Verify Wardley gameplay** via MCP servers (perplexity)
3. **Base guidance on Simon Wardley's gameplays catalog**

## Strategic Play Categories

```text
Wardley's Gameplay Categories:

USER PERCEPTION PLAYS
├── Education
├── Lobbying
├── Marketing
└── Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)

ACCELERATOR PLAYS
├── Open Approaches
├── Exploiting Network Effects
├── Standards Game
└── Industrialization

DEACCELERATOR PLAYS
├── Creating Artificial Constraints
├── Exploiting IPR
├── Slowing Evolution
└── Raising Barriers

MARKET PLAYS
├── Two-Factor Markets
├── Ecosystem Model
├── Tower and Moat
└── Channel Conflict

DEFENSIVE PLAYS
├── Signal Distortion
├── Threat Acquisition
├── Embracing Competition
└── Fragmentation

ATTACKING PLAYS
├── ILC (Innovate-Leverage-Commoditize)
├── Fool's Mate
├── Pig in a Poke
└── Misdirection

ECOSYSTEM PLAYS
├── Co-option
├── Sensing Engines
├── Center of Gravity
└── Land and Expand
```

## Key Strategic Plays

### ILC (Innovate-Leverage-Commoditize)

```text
ILC Pattern:

1. INNOVATE (Genesis)
   - Create new capability
   - Build expertise
   - Accept high failure rate
   - Focus on learning

2. LEVERAGE (Custom → Product)
   - Take successful innovations
   - Build repeatable solutions
   - Capture market share
   - Establish position

3. COMMODITIZE (Product → Utility)
   - Industrialize at scale
   - Drive costs down
   - Enable new innovations
   - Create ecosystem lock-in

Example: