You mention towards the end "What I like most about focusing on execution is that it gives you so many more *tries*. I don’t just have one shot to create a perfect strategy — I have a shot every day to ship something, learn what works, and then update my principles to ship an even better product tomorrow."
Don't you think not all strategic mistakes can be recovered from through excellence in execution alone? Betting on the wrong horse can be fatal even if you run the race well. So some up-front strategic rigor is vital, isn't it?
Great point. I recall an article saying that you realistically only have one shot or two, as very little customers are willing to give your product a second chance. If your addressable market is 100 people and 60 found your product to be less than desired, you would never recover that user base and subsequently momentum. If you fail to impress a second time that remaining 40 turns into 16. This is a obviously a design-biased take but I think has a point.
Ami, this is an excellent article that you present. More power to iterative strategizing while perfecting execution. I wonder if the 20/80 split is actually a flexible target and varies according to the problem at hand. Are there situations wherein you have had to overhaul the whole effort because of the wrong strategy.
Love 20/80 rule - Allocating time. How much time should any given team be spending on strategy versus execution? 20/80 might be a good start for most teams
The best skills which is also hard to acquire is combination of strategic and execution skills . It’s hard to imagine any project or product or company without having both skill sets in key leadership positions.
Hey Ami, great post and thanks for your insights. I was wondering what do you think ahout this post from Sangeet offering a different PoV:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sangeetpaul_people-who-constantly-claim-that-execution-activity-7179383565762109441-nsIq/
You mention towards the end "What I like most about focusing on execution is that it gives you so many more *tries*. I don’t just have one shot to create a perfect strategy — I have a shot every day to ship something, learn what works, and then update my principles to ship an even better product tomorrow."
Don't you think not all strategic mistakes can be recovered from through excellence in execution alone? Betting on the wrong horse can be fatal even if you run the race well. So some up-front strategic rigor is vital, isn't it?
Great point. I recall an article saying that you realistically only have one shot or two, as very little customers are willing to give your product a second chance. If your addressable market is 100 people and 60 found your product to be less than desired, you would never recover that user base and subsequently momentum. If you fail to impress a second time that remaining 40 turns into 16. This is a obviously a design-biased take but I think has a point.
Wish I could recall where did I read it.
Interesting PoV Abhishek!.
Ami, this is an excellent article that you present. More power to iterative strategizing while perfecting execution. I wonder if the 20/80 split is actually a flexible target and varies according to the problem at hand. Are there situations wherein you have had to overhaul the whole effort because of the wrong strategy.
really tough issue for all product team! From strategy to execution needs a lot of alignment, communication and much effort of all members 🏋️
Love 20/80 rule - Allocating time. How much time should any given team be spending on strategy versus execution? 20/80 might be a good start for most teams
The best skills which is also hard to acquire is combination of strategic and execution skills . It’s hard to imagine any project or product or company without having both skill sets in key leadership positions.
I'll add one thing, accepting your truism that execution eats strategy for breakfast. If there's no strategy, execution will eat itself.