Stay-to-Market and Play-to-Market: Go-to-Market’s Overlooked Siblings
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to describe the risks of a lagging workforce skillset.
In an earlier post, I discussed the difference between capability drift and skill gaps. While “gap” suggests something binary (you have the skill or you don’t), “lag” captures a more realistic and nuanced truth: skills can be present but behind market expectations. This matters, because designing for acceleration of capability—not just filling a gap—requires a different strategy.
Where does that lag show up? In an organization’s ability to stay in the market and play in the market. Let me explain.
Most leaders are familiar with Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy: the alignment of marketing, sales, and product to deliver value and drive growth. But GTM doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It has two conceptual siblings I believe we should talk about more often:
Stay-to-Market (STM): Your ability to sustain and compete in your current markets. It includes operational efficiency, responsiveness, adaptability, and continuous improvement. For example, consider how well your teams can integrate AI into project management workflows—not just to experiment, but to do it reliably, at scale, and with business value in mind. STM is often implicit, but it's critical to annual planning, performance management, and quality initiatives.
Play-to-Market (PTM): Your capacity to innovate, enter new markets, or pursue transformation. PTM is about strategic bets—trying new things, pivoting business models, or adopting emergent technologies. Not every organization is playing to market at all times, but those who are must build different muscles: experimentation, speed, and learning agility.
Why this distinction matters
Using STM and PTM as lenses can improve the way we align workforce development to business strategy.
Too often, learning programs are either:
Too broad (“learn AI”)
Too tactical (“learn this specific tool”)
Too compliance-driven (“check the training box”)
But when you ask: Is this development initiative meant to support STM or PTM?, it clarifies intent and sharpens measurement. STM-aligned programs might focus on efficiency, consistency, or upskilling for current tools and processes. PTM-aligned programs could look like labs, pilots, or high-uncertainty learning journeys aimed at emerging needs.
This framing also reinforces that skills development is organizational change. It requires communication, stakeholder buy-in, reinforcement systems, and often, culture shift. If we understand which strategic imperative we’re supporting—stay or play—we can calibrate our approach to match the scale and urgency of the challenge.
TL;DR:
GTM is essential, but don’t overlook its strategic siblings: Stay-to-Market (STM) and Play-to-Market (PTM).
Workforce capability lag puts both STM and PTM at risk.
Aligning skill development to STM/PTM strategies brings sharper focus, better metrics, and stronger business outcomes.
