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10 principles of strategy through execution
How to link where your company is headed with what it does best . See also “ A Guide to Strategy through Execution .” by Ivan de Souza , Richard Kauffeld , and David van Oss
“ We are all in the gutter ,” wrote Oscar Wilde , “ but some of us are looking at the stars .” That is the nature of strategy through execution . You operate deep in the weeds , managing countless dayto-day tasks and transactions . At the same time , you keep a steady gaze on your company ’ s long-term goals — and on ways you can stand out from your competitors .
Having a close link between strategy and execution is critically important . Your strategy is your promise to deliver value : the things you do for customers , now and in the future , that no other company can do as well . Your execution occurs in the thousands of decisions made each day by people at every level of your company .
Quality , innovation , profitability , and growth all depend on having strategy and execution fit together seamlessly . If they don ’ t fit — if you can ’ t deliberately align them in a coherent way — you risk operating at cross-purposes and losing your focus . This problem is all too common . In a recent Strategy & global survey , 700 business executives were asked to rate their company ’ s top leaders in terms of their skill at strategy creation and at execution . Only 8 percent were credited as being very effective at both .
Strategy &, the strategy consulting business of PwC , has been studying the relationship between strategy and execution for years . We have found that the most iconic enterprises — companies such as Apple , Amazon , Danaher , IKEA , Starbucks , and the Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier , all of which compete successfully time after time — are exceptionally coherent . They put forth a clear winning value proposition , backed up by distinctive capabilities , and apply this mix of strategy and execution to everything they do .
Any company can follow the same path as these successful firms , and an increasing number of companies are doing just that . If you join them , you will need to cultivate the ability to translate the strategic into the everyday . This means linking strategy and execution closely together by creating distinctive , complex capabilities that set your company apart , and applying them to every product and service in your portfolio . These capabilities combine all the elements of execution — technology , human skills , processes , and organizational structures — to deliver your company ’ s chosen value proposition .
How do you accomplish this on a day-to-day basis ? How do you get the strategists and implementers in your company to work together effectively ? These 10 principles , derived from our experience at Strategy &, can help you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your progress . For companies that truly embrace strategy through execution , principles like these become a way of life .
1 . Aim High
Don ’ t compromise your strategy or your execution . Set a lofty ambition for your strategy : not just financial success but sustained value creation , making a better world through your products , services , and presence . Apple ’ s early goal of making “ a computer for the rest of us ,” which effectively shaped the personal computer industry , is a classic example .
Next , aim just as high on the execution side , with a dedication to excellence that seems almost obsessive to outsiders . Apple , for instance , has long been known for its intensive interest in every aspect of product design and marketing , iterating endlessly until its notoriously demanding leaders are satisfied . The company ’ s leaders do not consider execution beneath them ; it is part of what makes Apple special .
Together , a strong long-term strategy and a fierce commitment to excellent execution can transform not only a company , but a regional
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