What is strategy execution?
Strategy execution is the work of turning a chosen strategy into results in the day-to-day running of a business. Research by Gary Neilson and colleagues at Booz & Company, published in Harvard Business Review in 2008, found that clarity about who makes which decisions, and how well information moves, did more for execution than reorganizing or changing incentives. Later work by Donald Sull and colleagues found that execution often breaks down in coordination between units.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
The revenue team is where strategy meets the customer, so execution gaps often show up in the sales numbers. When sellers and managers chase goals the strategy never named, effort spreads thin. In Sull and colleagues' research, roughly one middle manager in two could not name even one of the company's top five priorities, a reason to test how clearly the priorities have reached front-line sales managers.
Example
A PE-backed facility services company sets a strategy to grow recurring maintenance agreements. Branch managers keep rewarding one-time project wins, because the commission plan and the branch reports still favor them. Results lag until the measures and incentives match the stated priority.
"Could each of our front-line managers name the company's top priorities today, in the same words?"