GIST template by Itamar Gilad

This GIST (Goals, Ideas, Steps, Tasks) framework template was created by Itamar Gilad and can be seen as an alternative to traditional product roadmaps. The GIST framework provides a structured approach to defining and communicating your product strategy in a clear and actionable way. It helps align your team around key goals, major initiatives to pursue those goals, signals to measure progress, and specific tactics to execute the initiatives. GIST bridges the gap between high-level vision and concrete execution, ensuring your product work is grounded in a cohesive, outcome-driven strategy.

Why use this template?

The GIST framework offers several benefits:

• Structured strategy: Provides a clear, actionable product strategy.

• Team alignment: Ensures all team members are focused on key goals and initiatives.

• Outcome-driven: Focuses on achieving specific goals rather than just completing tasks.

• Agile and iterative: Encourages regular revisits and updates to the plan to stay agile.

Key features of the template

The template includes two connected workspaces:

1. Goals & ideas: Collect all your ideas and prioritize them based on their fit with your goals and their ICE score (Impact, Confidence, Ease of Implementation). Move ideas through workflow stages (awaiting validation, in validation, in development, and done) while validating them through step-projects in the connected steps workspace. 2. Steps (and Tasks): Manage mini-projects (steps) that implement ideas in parts while validating them. Use this child workspace to manage the steps and tasks for the connected ideas. The GIST template has four main ingredients 1. Goals: Clearly articulate your product's strategic goals, whether they are related to revenue, user growth, new market expansion, or other key objectives. 2. Ideas: Centralize ideas from all stakeholders and map them to relevant goals. 3. Step-projects: Break down great ideas into concrete, actionable step-projects that can be prioritized and sequenced on the roadmap based on impact, cost, dependencies, and resources. 4. Tasks: Decompose step-projects into granular tasks that can be assigned to team members and tracked through execution.

Who should use the GIST template by Itamar Gilad?

• Teams that need to bridge the gap between high-level vision and concrete execution through a structured process.

• Organizations looking to prioritize and validate ideas using the ICE framework, aligning tasks with strategic goals.

• Companies aiming to maintain a focus on outcome-driven strategy and agile decision-making.

• Businesses seeking a structured, iterative approach to prioritize and validate ideas based on strategic goals.

• Teams across various industries, from tech startups to established enterprises, looking for a framework that supports continuous iteration and alignment with broader objectives.

How to add the template to your airfocus account

• Click “Try this template” on the banner below or at the top of the page.

• Sign up or log in to your airfocus account.

• Open the left-hand sidebar.

• Click the “+” icon and select “New workspace.”

• Go to the “By experts” section and install the template.”

Getting started with this template

• Get acquainted: Familiarize yourself with the different sections of the GIST board.

• Input goals & ideas: Collect and prioritize your ideas based on their alignment with your goals.

• Manage steps & tasks: Break down ideas into step-projects and further into tasks. Assign these tasks to team members and track their progress.

Additional resources

• GIST planning

• Unlocking Product Potential: 4 Keys for Evidence-Guided Development (With Itamar Gilad).

We encourage you to explore more of Itamar Gilad’s product management resources, including his books, workshops, and tools on itamargilad.com, to further enhance your product management skills and practices.