HBR Guide to Executing Your Strategy

CHAPTER 3

Why Strategy Execution Unravels—and What to Do About It

by Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes, and Charles Sull

When global CEOs are surveyed about their biggest concerns, strategy execution tops the list, ahead of innovation, geopolitical instability, and top-line growth. It’s no wonder we wrestle with execution. Several common beliefs about it are just plain wrong.

Let’s look at five of the most damaging myths that lead organizations to waste time and resources on the wrong issues, while ignoring the things that really matter.

Myth 1: Execution Equals Alignment

When execution falters, managers tend to assume there’s a problem with alignment—the processes linking strategy to action up and down the hierarchy. But in most companies, alignment ...