About Writing OS Fractional Diagnostic Book Connect
Marketing Leadership Diagnostic

Hire for the problem,
not the wishlist.

Most companies hire a marketing leader by writing a wish list. This diagnostic works differently. It decomposes your situation before recommending a person, and it is willing to tell you that you don't need a marketing hire yet.

Take the Diagnostic Discuss your results →
30 Questions
8 Scored dimensions
6–8 Minutes
How it works

Five sections. One clear recommendation.

The diagnostic scores eight dimensions from your answers, then hard guardrails constrain the result. The recommendation is a synthesis of evidence, not a gut call.

01 of 05
Company Context
How the business actually works and where it stands today.
3 questions
02 of 05
GTM & Economics
How customers are won, and the economics and complexity behind that motion.
9 questions
03 of 05
Growth Engine
Where growth comes from today, where it breaks down, and what marketing must influence.
5 questions
04 of 05
Marketing Organization
The current state of marketing — ownership, clarity, and operating maturity.
6 questions
05 of 05
Talent Expectations
What you expect the role to own, execute, and lead.
7 questions

Three additional questions appear conditionally. Maximum 33.

Scoring model

Eight dimensions. Scored independently.

Click any dimension to see what it measures. The chart shows a representative output — your result will reflect your specific answers.

Possible outputs

The diagnostic recommends an architecture, not a title.

Outputs reflect the specific combination of altitude, engagement model, and capability emphasis your situation requires.

Recommended — example
Senior Fractional CMO
Strategic marketing leadership without permanent headcount. Owns the operating model and leads the team. Transitions to full-time when the org is ready.
VP / C-Suite altitude Part-time ongoing Build + lead
Alternative
Full-Time VP Marketing
Right when the business has a stable GTM motion, repeatable growth, and 12+ months of ongoing need at consistent scope.
VP altitude Permanent Lead existing team
Alternative
Embedded Marketing Director
Execution-heavy, strategy-light. Right when the direction is clear and the primary need is consistent, high-quality output.
Director altitude Full-time Execute + manage
Not yet
No marketing hire yet
The diagnostic will recommend holding when the real constraint is sales, product, pricing, or retention. Hiring won't fix it.
Pre-hire stage Fix the foundation first
Sample output

What a result looks like.

Results are generated from your specific inputs. The architecture, mandate, and capacity recommendation are specific to your situation.

Recommended architecture
Senior Fractional CMO
Strategic marketing leadership without permanent headcount. Owns the operating model and leads the team through growth inflection.
Altitude · VP / C-Suite Engagement · Part-time ongoing Confidence · High
Must personally own
Marketing strategy and operating model
Positioning and messaging architecture
Pipeline and demand generation
Must know how to lead
Enterprise ABM motion
Product marketing and GTM launch
Marketing operations and attribution
Recommended additional capacity
Demand gen specialist (individual contributor)
Marketing ops / RevOps contractor
Where AI creates leverage
Content production and iteration
Research and competitive intelligence
Reporting and attribution modeling
⚠
Guardrail flagged: Acquisition may not be the highest-leverage investment until retention is better understood or improved. Prioritize lifecycle marketing alongside demand generation.
What it won't do

Guardrails built into the model.

Eleven conditional guardrails constrain the recommendation to prevent the most common hiring mistakes.

✗
Add headcount before clarityIf execution is being added before determining what the team should execute, the diagnostic names it.
✗
Map a total score to a titleAltitude is determined by context, not a number. No score is read directly as a job title.
✗
Treat fractional as a seniority levelFractional is an engagement model. Altitude and engagement are scored independently.
✗
Blend executive leadership with specialist executionWhen the role design combines two altitudes, the diagnostic flags a role design conflict.
✗
Build a unicorn roleRequiring deep execution expertise across multiple distinct disciplines produces an unsustainable hire.
✗
Recommend a CMO before the org is readyWhen cross-functional evidence is thin, the model suppresses executive recommendations in favor of a senior builder.
✗
Default to fractional when full-time is warrantedWhen scope is persistent and organizationally complex, the model favors full-time executive ownership.
✗
Force strategy and execution into one roleWhen the work clearly requires more than one altitude, the model recommends a hybrid architecture.
✗
Assume the constraint is marketingIf your answers suggest the highest-leverage problem is sales, product, or pricing, the diagnostic says so.
✗
Define a permanent role before the problem is clearWhen there isn't enough clarity to spec a role, the recommendation is a diagnostic engagement first.
✗
Accelerate acquisition before fixing retentionWhen retention signals are weak, the model flags it before recommending demand generation investment.
Ready to run it?
Takes 6–8 minutes. No account required to start. Results are generated from your specific answers.
Take the Diagnostic Discuss your results →