What is strategy?
Strategy is one of the most widely discussed yet misunderstood concepts in business.
Michael Porter defines strategy as creating a unique, valuable position through a distinctive set of activities. This definition highlights that strategy is about differentiation, not perfection. If only one ideal position existed, strategy would be unnecessary.
Strategy is really about making trade-offs when competing in a given market because the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. It is about creating the right fit among a company’s teams and activities. The success of a strategy comes from doing many things well at the same time.
A company’s strategy sets long-term objectives and determines how resources will be allocated to achieve them. These objectives typically rest on four foundational pillars:
These long-term objectives are often built on leadership assumptions, which are tested over time.
What is strategy execution?
Once a strategy is defined, execution begins. Put it simply, strategy execution is the ongoing process of translating the strategy into measurable actions, it is about going from ideas to results. While strategy creation sets direction and vision; execution aligns resources and processes to reach them.
Both are equally critical but require different skill sets and processes because execution validates assumptions made during creation and corrects course as needed.
What is a strategy execution system?
A strategy execution system refers to methods, standards, and procedures that enable efficient execution of organizational objectives. A growing number of organizations use the OKR framework as the system that helps them to translate their strategic goals into structured execution.
OKRs translate vision into transformative activities, measuring outcomes against aligned objectives across the organization. Even with a great strategy and talented teams, lacking proper systems makes execution difficult.
This is not just theory: Harvard Business Review reports that 67% of strategies fail due to poor execution.
If the strategic vision is weak, OKRs become ineffective. You need to ensure a solid strategy and vision before deploying OKRs.
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