Leading in Fog: Strategy When the Path Isn’t Clear
In product leadership, we often talk about clarity.
Clear goals. Clear roadmaps. Clear metrics. We build models, frameworks, and narratives to create order. Because clarity feels safe. Directional. Strategic.
But the truth is, much of the work happens before clarity arrives.
In the fog.
When the brief is vague, the data is partial, the politics are swirling, and the team is quietly looking at you for shape.
That’s when leadership actually begins.
Not in the clarity—but in how you carry the ambiguity.
🌫 The Fog Is the Job
Early in my career, I thought my job was to find the answer.
Now I know my job is often to hold the space until the answer emerges.
To be calm when stakeholders are reactive.
To ask better questions when the problem hasn’t crystallised.
To set a rhythm, even when the direction is still forming.
It’s tempting in these moments to reach for noise—to rush into execution, over-index on frameworks, or build for the sake of momentum.
But sometimes, progress looks like stillness with intention.
Or movement without full certainty.
Or drawing the first contour of a map that isn’t finished.
🧭 What You Actually Lead With
In the fog, you’re not leading with answers. You’re leading with posture.
Clarity of process (even when outcomes are unclear)
Confidence in your values (especially when trade-offs emerge)
Curiosity, not defensiveness
Calm repetition of direction—not because you know exactly what’s next, but because teams move better when the tempo is steady
I’ve found that the most strategic people I’ve worked with weren’t the loudest. They were the ones who held uncertainty well. Who resisted the urge to over-specify and instead created scaffolding for clarity to arrive.
They knew that fog isn’t failure. It’s often just the early phase of strategy.
🔄 Iteration as Orientation
When you’re leading in ambiguity, iteration isn’t just a product principle. It’s a leadership practice.
You iterate your narrative.
You iterate your understanding.
You help the team move forward—not blindly, but with gentle hypothesis.
In these moments, even a bad idea is a gift. Because it gives you something to push against. A signal in the mist.
And each signal, if handled with care, clears a little more sky.
I used to think strategy was about having the map.
Now I think it’s about having the nerve to sketch one—and the humility to redraw it.
That’s what we do as digital product leaders.
We don’t always know the path.
But we walk anyway.
Still thinking.