Don’t Mistake Execution for Strategy

In drawing up a strategy plan, managers often confuse describing what the organization needs to do (strategy) with what they need to do (execution).  As a result, they tend to get lost in a to-do list of actions and never express at an organizational level the company’s strategic positioning and direction.  They key to getting past this is for them to begin strategic planning by consciously articulating the organization’s positioning with respect to the factors that customers consider when making decisions on buying the company’s product or services.