Growth in the Age of Complexity: Steering Your Company to Innovation, Productivity, and Profits in the New Era of Competition

CHAPTER 16

Master Execution in a Complex World

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”

—JAPANESE PROVERB

Much of this book is focused on strategy: identifying the right options and allocation of resources to win in a competitive environment. But strategy alone doesn’t generate results:

Leading Performance = Sound Strategy × Execution Excellence

Execution enables growth. Without the right strategy, you may crash onto the rocks. But without the ability to execute, you’ll drift and go nowhere. Leaders recognize this gap. In a recent study of 400 global CEOs, “execution excellence” topped the list of some 80 issues that also included innovation, geopolitical instability, and top-line growth.¹ Indeed, in some ...