Great Ideas Aren’t Enough. Great Strategy Isn’t Enough Either.

Great ideas aren’t enough. Great strategy isn’t enough either.

Over the years, I’ve seen organizations with excellent people, strong technology, loyal customers and plenty of ideas struggle to grow.

Usually one of three things is missing.

Ideas.

Strategy.

Execution.

Ideas are the raw material.

They come from customers, competitors, suppliers, technology and the expertise already inside the organization.

Strategy decides which ideas matter.

Where do we play?Which customers matter most?What should we build?What should we stop building?Where should we invest?

Execution turns those decisions into reality.

I’ve come to think about the intersection of those three disciplines as the Ringer Zone:

Ideas + Strategy + Execution

When one is missing, predictable problems appear.

• Ideas + execution without strategy creates activity without direction.

• Ideas + strategy without execution creates plans that never become results.

• Strategy + execution without enough good ideas eventually creates incrementalism.

The job of product leadership is to keep all three connected.

That’s particularly important because strategy isn’t something we create every three years and file away.

It should evolve as markets, technology, customers and competitors change.

The question I like to ask product teams is:

Which of the three is currently limiting us—Ideas, Strategy or Execution?