Executing Strategy

54 Executing Strategy

initiative turn out to be different from the realities. Esti-

mates are often lower than the actual costs.

• Politics interfere with progress. A project may run into

“political blockage”—people who didn’t buy into a priority

issue fail to carry out their obligations, causing delays and

complications.

Anticipating misalignment

In executing any action plan, you will most likely face some degree

of misalignment. After all, it’s impossible to foresee with absolute

certainty what resources every aspect of a project will require.

Often, only by putting a plan into action can you get the most ac-

curate sense of the resources you’ll need. And when valuable new

information is received, you need to be able to learn from it. For

that reason, ...