When Strategy and Execution Drift Apart, Everyone Pays
You’re in a leadership review, looking at a team’s progress, and suddenly realize… they’re working on something completely different from what you thought the priorities were.
It’s not because they’re off-track. It’s because somewhere between strategy and sprint planning, the message got lost.
This misalignment happens more often than we admit.
Leaders believe one set of priorities is driving execution, but the teams are working on something else entirely. And what happens as a result?
- Strategic goals get missed
- Team effort feels wasted
- Credibility takes a hit
- Execution gets chaotic
Here’s how you spot the signs:
- Teams can’t clearly explain how their work maps to the company’s priorities
- Leadership reviews include surprises
- Departmental projects feel disconnected from org-wide direction
Does this sound familiar at all?
Here’s a practical fix you can run this week:
Step 1: Build an initiative inventory
List every active and upcoming project across departments. Not what should be happening—what is happening.
Step 2: Map each initiative to your strategic priorities
For each item, ask: “Which priority does this support?”
You’ll quickly find three categories:
- Orphans - Projects that don’t map to any current priority
- Gaps - Priorities with no initiatives backing them up
- Overloads - Priorities that have too much stacked against them
Step 3: Adjust
Retire work that’s off-strategy. Reassign under-supported priorities. Sequence overloaded areas to regain clarity and traction.
When you do this well, you create a direct line between what leadership says matters and what teams are actually doing.
It’s not glamorous work, but it’s how strategy becomes execution.
For a deeper dive into this—and six more moves that help your teams deliver on time without burning out—download our free Survive and Thrive guide at
👉 www.techleaderadvance.com/thrive
