A good strategy that is not executed is just a document. In our experience, plans stall for three predictable reasons.
1. Too many priorities
When everything is a priority, nothing is. We limit each quarter to three company-level objectives, each with no more than four measurable key results.
2. No single owner
Every key result needs one named owner - not a department, not a committee. Ownership turns a goal into a calendar entry.
3. No rhythm
Plans are reviewed once a year and forgotten for eleven months. Instead, we install a simple cadence:
- Weekly (30 minutes): progress, blockers, decisions needed.
- Monthly (90 minutes): key results, numbers, course corrections.
- Quarterly (half day): what worked, what to stop, next objectives.
Make the numbers visible
A one-page dashboard that the whole leadership team sees every week changes behaviour more than any workshop. Keep it to the ten numbers that matter.
The test
If you ask any senior leader to name the three objectives for this quarter and their own contribution, do the answers match? If not, you have a strategy document - not yet a strategy.