Strategy Execution: Mastering the Challenges in Three Steps
Strategy execution comes down to three questions: where do we stand today, where do we want to go, and how do we get there. That turns a strategy into a routine instead of a paper in a drawer.
Eyes on the Goal
For a long time, I thought that knowing my goals was enough to reach them. If I just knew what I wanted, why shouldn't I be able to get it? But I quickly had to learn that, unfortunately, it isn't that simple. You know the phrase "keep your eye on the goal"? Well, it turns out you actually have to flip it around: it's really "eye before goal." Without a vision, it's difficult, if not impossible, to make the right decisions when executing your strategy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger put it well at Bits & Pretzels 2022: "Without a vision, you're nothing." He's talking about personal vision, ambitious goals, almost reckless ones. But: he achieved everything. And the same is true for your company.
How Does Strategy Execution Work?
Strategy execution works in three steps, with three questions.
Successful strategy execution requires a clear awareness of the current status quo. Only if you know your starting point can you actually reach your destination. So the first question you should ask yourself is: Where do we stand today?
The second crucial question is: Where do we want to go? Transparency is the top priority here too. Only if everyone involved knows which goal is being pursued can they actually work toward it together. Without a clear goal, it's hard to plan the steps required for strategy execution.
The third question you should ask is: How do we get from here to there? Here it's important to develop a detailed plan that describes exactly which steps need to be taken, in which order, to reach the goal you've set. It's wise to set realistic timelines and introduce routines that regularly review progress and adjust course where needed.
But wait...
Why Are We Even Talking About Goals When It Comes to Strategy Execution?
Strategy and goals are closely linked. I've often seen companies formulate outstanding strategies. They get communicated once or twice, and then never actually get executed. At the same time, goals get used that are supposed to provide good guidance at the quarterly level. But even these goals often don't work in a coordinated way.
Why Aren't Goals and Strategy in Sync?
Creating a strategy that's consistently broken down into goals, made transparent, and made tangible is the master discipline. And it's the only way to close the gap between strategy and day-to-day business.
When goals aren't aligned with the strategy, they don't point in any particular direction. That's how it happens that a company sets off in one direction one month, only to have to change course again shortly after.
A valuable framework for this is OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). OKRs connect the big-picture direction with concrete, measurable results, and make sure goals at every level contribute to each other instead of running in parallel.
How Do You Align Your Goals With the Bigger Picture?
The best way to think about goals and strategy is hierarchically, for example as a pyramid, or as an unbroken chain running from the vision down to the daily routine. That's exactly the core of the I2I Loop (Intent to Impact): intent becomes insight, insight becomes implementation, implementation gets verified, and the learning flows back into the system. That way, strategy execution never stays a one-off project. It becomes a recurring routine.
How exactly you map these relationships in your own company is as individual as your company itself. If you want to see how we structure this at Rocket Routine OS, join the waitlist.
What images do you use for strategy execution?