Economic Thinking

At Level 5, you shape how the organization sees value. You bring clarity to what's worth doing, and what's not, across teams, products, or even the company. You're the one asking, "What's the most important thing we aren't doing?" You don't just participate in strategic conversations—you change their shape. You build cultural alignment around investment, risk, and payoff. You use influence, not just authority, to help others make better decisions with time, talent, and resources.

Key Behaviors

  • Connects product and engineering investments to long-term company outcomes
  • Shapes strategy by making opportunity cost legible at the highest levels
  • Drives high-impact bets by showing why they matter—and how to do them well
  • Influences leadership and peer teams with clarity and credibility
  • Champions a culture of thoughtful investment over busywork or bias

Common Struggles

  • May struggle with alignment if vision isn't well-communicated
  • Can be frustrated by pace or inertia in shifting organizational direction
  • Needs to balance ambition with buy-in and timing

Success Indicators

You know you're successful when you:

  • Shift how leadership and teams allocate time, resources, and attention
  • Make trade-offs visible and navigable across domains
  • Empower others to act like stewards of value
  • Guide the org toward work that creates lasting leverage

Mindset Shift

From:

"I help the organization think like investors."

To:

"I shape how resources are used to build a future worth betting on."

Questions to Ask Yourself

  • "Am I elevating the right conversations?"
  • "Who can I help see the economic forest, not just the trees?"
  • "What am I not questioning that I should be?"

Build These Habits

  • 1
    Connect tactical decisions to longer-term economic patterns
  • 2
    Translate complexity into clarity for cross-functional audiences
  • 3
    Build shared language for value, effort, and investment

Seek Feedback

  • "Where is my influence most visible?"
  • "Where am I shaping priorities in unintentional ways?"
  • "Am I helping others grow in their economic thinking?"

Signals You're Ready to Level Up

  • Org-wide priorities reflect your framing of value
  • Other leaders reference your mental models when making decisions
  • You're trusted to call out what's worth doing—and what isn't

Focus Summary

  • Model clarity
  • Drive priority
  • Steward the organization's most precious asset: its attention

At Level 5, economic thinking isn't a skill—it's a lens. You bring vision, clarity, and courage to the table, and help others do the same. You aren't just conserving resources—you're shaping how they get used to build a future worth betting on.