Michael Odafe Ugbewanko

Most strategies don’t fail because they’re flawed.
They fail because they’re unfollowable.

I’ve been in enough boardrooms and offsites to know this pattern well. We spend enormous energy crafting elegant strategy documents. The thinking is sharp. The slides are polished. Everyone nods in agreement.

Then the documents leave the room and momentum fades. Execution stalls. Not because people are unwilling, but because they are unclear.

Here is the uncomfortable truth I had to accept as a CEO:
Employees don’t follow documents. They follow clarity, priorities, and consequences.

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When strategy stays abstract, crowded with initiatives, or owned by everyone, it quietly becomes optional. And optional strategies don’t get executed.

Over time, I’ve learned what actually works.

First, make one clear strategic choice.
Strategy is as much about what we will not do as what we will. When everything is a priority, nothing is. One sharp choice beats ten diluted ambitions.

Second, translate strategy into everyday work.
If people can’t see how strategy shows up in Monday’s to do list, it isn’t strategy. It is theory. Execution lives in daily decisions, not slide decks.

Third, assign owners, not committees.
Committees discuss. Owners deliver. Every strategic pillar needs a name beside it, not a group, not a task force.

Fourth, tie strategy to measurable outcomes.
What gets measured gets managed. When success isn’t quantified, accountability quietly disappears.

Fifth, make trade offs explicit.
Real strategy creates tension. It forces choices. If no one feels uncomfortable, no real trade off has been made.

Sixth, communicate repeatedly, not once.
I used to mistake announcement for alignment. I was wrong. Strategy must be repeated, reinforced, and recontextualized until it becomes muscle memory.

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Seventh, enforce consequences consistently.
Nothing kills belief faster than selective enforcement. When consequences are inconsistent, strategy turns into performance art.

Here is the truth many of us as CEOs struggle to accept:
People don’t resist strategy. They resist confusion, overload, and ambiguity.

The strategies that get followed are simple, clearly owned, measurable, repeatedly communicated, and consistently enforced.

Anything else is just theatre.

Michael Odafe Ugbewanko (MOU) is a Strategy and Transformation Consultant, HR and Leadership expert, and Founder of Dmidaf Global Consult. He works with CEOs and HR leaders to scale people, structure, and process excellence for sustainable growth. MOU is also an author and holds advanced professional and academic credentials, including an MSc, ACIPD, MCIB, FMVA, FIMC, and CMC.