Compound Consultant
Phase 1 — Positioning
1.2 · Foundation Build · 60–90 min

Build Your Positioning

Invoke the Positioning Architect skill inside your Strategist Coach. A guided 60–90 minute build through POV → Problem → Person → Synthesis. Produces 7 canonical files that every downstream phase reads.

60–90 min build · Diagnostic must be loaded first
What This Is

The deep build, in one focused session.

The diagnostic from 1.1 captured your baseline — strengths, gaps, raw material. The Positioning Architect skill turns that baseline into a full positioning foundation. Seven canonical files that become the operating system for your content, sales, and delivery.

The skill works in sequence — POV first (the lens), then Problem (what the lens lets you own), then Person (who has the problem worst), then Synthesis (the assembled positioning statement, pressure-tested). Each phase locks before the next begins. You can pause and resume between phases if needed, but the work flows best when done in one focused session.

Plan for 60–90 minutes. Block the time, kill notifications. The coach pushes hard — comfortable positioning is invisible positioning.
Before You Run It

Two things must be true.

If either is missing, fix it first. The skill will refuse to build on a weak foundation.

1. Your diagnostic is loaded

From 1.1 — your compound-consultant-diagnostic.md file should be in your Strategist Coach's knowledge base. The Positioning skill reads it before asking a single question. If it's not loaded, the skill will stop and tell you to run the diagnostic first.

2. You've read 0.3 (the positioning mindset reset)

The skill will push back on three patterns — leading with features, clever language, the generalist trap. If you don't know what to watch for, you'll give safe answers without realizing they're weak. Read 0.3 if you haven't already.

Bonus: upload existing business docs

If you have a bio, website copy, prior offer doc, or LinkedIn About section — upload those to your Strategist Coach project too. The skill notes where current positioning aligns or conflicts with what you're building. More context = sharper output.

How to Invoke the Skill

Open the coach. Trigger the skill.

Use any of these phrases — or anything equivalent — and the skill activates.

Trigger phrases
  • "Let's build my positioning"
  • "I'm ready to build my positioning"
  • "Walk me through positioning"
  • "Let's do the positioning deep dive"
The Four Phases

Each phase locks before the next begins.

The skill works through four phases in sequence. Production happens at checkpoints — files get delivered before moving on. You can pause between phases. You can't skip ahead.

Phase 1 · Foundation

POV — Who you are and what you believe

Start wide. Surface your advantages, worldview, contrarian beliefs, the enemy, your unique mechanism, and any frameworks (formalized or candidates). The POV establishes the lens through which Problem and Person will be defined — it constrains everything downstream.

Checkpoint 1 produces: narrative-spine.md, frameworks.md
Phase 2 · Commitment

Problem — Commit to one

With POV locked, narrow to the ONE problem you should own. The POV constrains the problem — it should explain WHY this problem persists. Test 2–3 candidates against POV fit, evidence, urgency, specificity, ownership. Force the choice. Then build the problem ecosystem: cost of inaction, failed alternatives, surface symptom, buyer language, pain maps, desire maps.

Checkpoint 2 produces: core-problem.md, pain-maps.md, desire-maps.md
Phase 3 · Specificity

Person — Lock the ICP

With POV and Problem locked, define exactly who has this problem worst. Situation, not demographics. Cross-check the pain language. Check POV resonance with this person. Define exclusions. Confirm the triple-circle alignment.

Checkpoint 3 produces: icp.md
Phase 4 · Synthesis

Pull it all together

Consistency audit across the three circles. Three positioning statement versions (full, elevator, narrative). Five pressure tests (Repeat-Back, Repulsion, Alternative, Plain Language, Coffee Sentence). Validation plan for any gaps or projected elements.

Checkpoint 4 produces: positioning.md (v1.0 HYPOTHESIS)
The 7 Canonical Files

What you walk away with.

By the end of the session, your Compound O.S. has 8 canonical files total (diagnostic + 7 positioning files). Every downstream phase reads these.

File Checkpoint What it contains
narrative-spine.md Checkpoint 1 POV, contrarian insight, worldview, the enemy, unique mechanism, POV narrative, content seeds
frameworks.md Checkpoint 1 Formalized frameworks (if you have them) or framework candidates from raw material
core-problem.md Checkpoint 2 One committed problem in buyer language, expanded statement, cost of inaction, failed alternatives, deprioritized problems
pain-maps.md Checkpoint 2 Verbatim buyer pain language across surface, deeper, emotional, failed solution pain + trigger moments
desire-maps.md Checkpoint 2 Felt-state resolutions for each pain — surface, deeper, emotional, identity desire
icp.md Checkpoint 3 ICP narrative, demographic/situation profile, psychographic profile, buyer language, exclusions
positioning.md Checkpoint 4 3 positioning versions, consistency audit, pressure test results, validation plan, evolution tracker
What to Expect

The skill will push hard. That's the point.

Comfortable positioning is invisible positioning. The skill is built to reject answers that drift into safe, generic, or borrowed territory. Here's what gets pushed back on:

If you find yourself getting pushed back on, you're doing it right. The friction is the signal that you're moving from safe to specific.
After Each Checkpoint

Save the files. Re-upload. Lock the phase.

The skill produces files inside code blocks at each checkpoint. Don't wait until the end — save and upload at each one. This protects your work and gives the coach the latest version of each file as it builds the next phase.

Pausing between phases

If you need to break mid-build, save and upload what you have. When you return, re-invoke the skill — it reads your uploaded files and picks up at the right checkpoint. Don't try to restart from scratch.

Next

v1.0 is a hypothesis. Test it.

Your positioning is built — but until it collides with real ICP conversations, it's only a hypothesis. Phase 1.3 is where the hypothesis gets proven, broken, or sharpened. 5+ real conversations. Hunt for No's, not validation.

1.3 — Test Your Positioning →