In the link between strategy and execution, there must be equal emphasis on execution and strategy. This is unusual to find. Most people over-emphasize strategy and under-emphasize execution.

I served in the military in the (USAF) strategic air command. I had a top-secret security clearance nuclear weapons. All we knew was execution. I thought the world operated that way until I got out of the service. I have not seen such emphasis on execution since.

In many businesses, there is an over-emphasis on strategic planning and an under-emphasis on execution. Execution is something that should have a dashboard. You should be able to see a display, like the speedometer in your car, to see how fast you are going. You should also be able to see where you are and how you are doing.

There is a link between strategy and execution. Strategy is a system of goals. Each goal is a system of projects, and each project is a system of tasks. The end game looks like – each person in the organization has an idea of what is important, where we are going, what they have to do to make it happen, and how we are progressing with our plan. The link is the part of the process that takes the goals, breaks them down into projects and breaks the projects down into milestones to convey a sense of timing from now until the end of the year when we hit our annual goals.

There should be a monitoring process during which there is a check-in from time to time in terms of where we are now and what is next. Things change over time, and people have to change over time with them. There also should be a dashboard where everybody can see the same information, just like looking at the dashboard in your car or looking at a scoreboard at a sports event.