11 Strategy and strategy execution experts list the most common strategy myths and misconceptions

Tl;dr - Common strategy execution myths and misconceptions

1. Strategy is not just a job for management - employees should be able to contribute
2. There is no need for huge amounts of long term planning. Get started and pivot
3. If choosing a strategy doesn't create some controversy, you probably haven't made any decisions
4. You want a strategy that disappoints some customers, and even some stakeholders in your organisation, because that tradeoff is how you succeed
5. Cascading strategies is all well and good, but they don't account for cross-functional collaboration
6. The plan needs to be subordinate to the strategy, but often people get it completely backwards
7. Only a few understand that strategy is a coherent and actionable set of choices of where to play, and how to win, in a foreseeable future
8. Without a clear strategy, we can’t expect a good execution. You need to create situational awareness, learn about their market, customers, and value proposition
9. There is so much focus on the operational aspect of executing the strategy and less on the why, which prevents employees from acting in agile, innovative, and strategic ways
10. Have a detailed plan and follow it. This doesn't work all the time so always test your hypothesis. Work in an agile manner. Have KPI's and metrics to assess your progress. Get user feedback

Kenneth Paul Lewis, Strategy & Leadership Consultant

1- Strategy is a top-floor job! Smarter and informed employees want to contribute to the future of an organization. Encourage this bottom-upping.

2- Cascade the strategy and people will do it! Cascaded strategies are clear! However they lose out on energy and commitment as they flow through the organization. Cascaded strategies don't account for cross-functional collaboration.

Sienam Lulla, Strategy Coach

#1. Strategy creation is the domain of senior leadership; execution is up to the troops.

#2. Execution requires giving a to-do list and a roadmap. Leaders will tell them what to do, rank, and file needs to deliver outputs.

#3. Let's get shit done. Who needs to spend so many hours crafting a strategy? It's just business babble.

#4. Alignment is easy. We have created an organizational structure for this precise purpose.

#5. Quarterly reviews in the rearview are sufficient to assess progress on execution. Weekly data trends are such a drag to pour over.

Richard Russell, Strategy and Leadership Coach

The biggest one is thinking that a set of "pillars" is a strategy. Usually, these are merely a set of levers that are available to improve things, rather than an actual strategy. For example "more products in more markets with more usage" is just listing out all the main inputs for a business.

A strategy is about making hard decisions. If choosing a strategy doesn't create some controversy, you probably haven't made any decisions. You want a strategy that disappoints some customers, and even some stakeholders in your organisation, because that tradeoff is how you succeed.

Daniel Montgomery, Strategic Agility Coach & Author

Strategic planning is, as the brilliant Henry Mintzberg put it, an oxymoron. Strategy is, as I said, a hypothesis operating under uncertainty. Planning, on the other hand, is based a set of very solid assumptions - necessary to operational planning and budgeting. The plan needs to be subordinate to the strategy, but often people get it completely backwards. This robs strategy of the capacity to be adaptive, which is critical these days.

Barry O’Reilly, Strategy Expert & Entrepreneur

Bad strategies:- Failure to face the problem- Mistaking goals for strategy- Bad strategic objectives that fail to address critical issues or when are impracticable- Fluff- When there’s an inability to choose- Template Style Strategy eg Vision, Mission, Values, Strategy (which end up being goals)

Cansel Sorgens, Strategy Coach

I’ve seen countless strategy papers that are either:

A project / feature roadmap with deadlines, or

A KPI dashboard showing their wish how much money/profit they want to make, or

A fuzzy power point slide with 5-7 “strategic” pillars with evergreen statements.

Only a few understand that strategy is a coherent and actionable set of choices of where to play, and how to win, in a foreseeable future.

However, without a clear strategy, we can’t expect a good execution. Therefore I coach my clients to create situational awareness, about their market, customers, and value proposition, so that they can see their current circumstances clearer and decide what to focus on and what not to focus on.

Tom Marks, Transformation Leader, Hewlett Packard

That it’s easy and everyone gets the why.

Areen Shahbari, Business Strategy Instructor, Harvard University

There is so much focus on the operational aspect of executing the strategy and less on the why, which prevents employees from acting in agile, innovative, and strategic ways, and causes a waste of resources that do not contribute to building a sustainable competitive advantage.

Craig Wood, Strategy Coach

Thinking you can jump into strategy without taking the time to do your research. Not sure how common that is but it can be have a terrible effect on the strategy.

Saumya Surendran, Strategy Consultant, IBM

Have a detailed plan and follow it. This doesn't work all the time so always test your hypothesis. Work in an agile manner. Have KPI's and metrics to assess your progress. Get user feedback.

Chris Combe, CDIO Group Functions Agile, UBS

That it's up to everyone else to figure out what to do. Usually when the strategy is vague and not enabling decisions to be made.

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