Having a sharp strategy isn’t enough. Across industries, leadership teams regularly invest time and effort into crafting bold plans, only to watch them unravel when it comes time to act. It’s not about ambition or effort. More often, the breakdown happens when good ideas fail to translate into consistent execution on the ground.
From our work at Metagyre with major corporations and fast-growing firms, we’ve seen the same roadblocks show up again and again. Here’s a closer look at the most common ones—and what executives can start doing to fix them.
1. Strategy Doesn’t Land the Way It Should
A plan that makes sense at the executive level can lose its meaning by the time it reaches frontline managers. People in the middle, juggling daily operations, often don’t have a clear line of sight to the bigger picture. Without practical guidance to bridge strategy and action, execution loses steam.
2. Teams Drift in Different Directions
Departments aren’t always on the same page. Each has its own deadlines, priorities, and definitions of success. That disconnect leads to slowdowns, crossed wires, and misfires. When IT is treated like a help desk rather than a strategic partner, or when marketing and finance aren’t aligned, it shows in the results.
3. Too Much Going On at Once
It’s common to see teams pulled in too many directions. Juggling multiple initiatives at the same time leads to confusion and burnout. Leaders often misjudge how much focus and time solid execution actually requires.
4. People Don’t Love Change
Change is rarely popular—especially in organizations where people are used to doing things a certain way. Even minor shifts can spark pushback, particularly from long-tenured teams. Habits run deep, and changing them takes more than a memo.
5. Gaps in Leadership and Know-How
A good strategy still needs capable hands to carry it out. Many organizations lack enough leaders at the middle level who can manage complexity and push things forward. In some cases, PMOs don’t have the tools or experience needed to lead effectively across functions.
6. Messages Get Lost
Just because a strategy is communicated once doesn’t mean it’s understood. Many leaders underestimate how often—and how clearly—they need to reinforce key messages. Without repeated, relevant communication, teams fall back on old routines.
7. Chasing the Short-Term
Companies often feel pressure to deliver quick wins. While understandable, this can lead to short-term thinking that undermines longer-term investments. Over time, it erodes the foundation needed for sustainable growth.
8. Technology Isn’t Always the Fix
Tech alone won’t solve execution issues. Disconnected systems and unclear data can make problems hard to spot. Even with great tools, you need people who know how to interpret the data and make decisions fast. Without that, dashboards are just nice to look at.
9. Ownership Isn’t Clear
When it’s everyone’s job, it quickly becomes no one’s job. Projects drift, timelines slip, and success metrics become fuzzy. Defining ownership clearly is crucial to keeping things on track.
What Executives Are Doing Now—And Why It’s Not Always Enough
Executives are trying. Strategy offices, OKRs, dashboards—these tools are showing up more often. But progress is still uneven.
- Bridging Strategy and Operations: Some companies are using clear visual tools like strategy maps or OKRs to align teams. But if planning stays too rigid or filled with jargon, it can feel distant and disconnected from day-to-day work.
- Encouraging Cross-Functional Work: When executives roll up their sleeves, eliminate obstacles, and push for accountability, real collaboration starts to happen. Task forces help, but only if there’s visible leadership and shared incentives behind them.
- Building the Skills to Execute: Training and leadership development are becoming more common, but many firms still rely on consultants who advise from a distance instead of staying engaged through delivery.
- Improving Culture and Communication: Cultural change happens when leaders model the behavior they want and reinforce it through regular conversations—not just town halls or newsletters. Start simple with a one-slide strategy conversation starter.
- Tracking What Matters: Dashboards can help if they’re tied to meaningful KPIs. But when metrics become overwhelming or disconnected from results, teams lose focus.
Should You Outsource the PMO?
Outsourcing the PMO, or parts of it, is becoming more common—and it can work. But success hinges on the details.
What a Good Partner Can Bring:
- Speed: External teams can hit the ground running, especially for time-sensitive projects.
- Experience: Specialized firms often come with proven methods, deep consultative experience, purpose built tools, and insight that internal teams may not have.
- Flexible Costs: Outsourcing lets you scale support without bloating fixed costs.
What to Watch Out For:
- Cultural Disconnects: External teams may struggle to integrate with your people and processes. To avoid this, choose a partner who doesn’t just bring best practices, but understands how to tailor and embed them into your unique corporate culture. When a PMO provider can speak your internal language and work within your rhythms, execution becomes a natural extension of your strategy.
- No One Taking the Wheel: If your partner’s just handing over slides and templates, you won’t see real change. You need someone who’s willing to take responsibility and see things through.
- Knowledge Drain: Good partners don’t just get things done—they help your team learn along the way. Otherwise, you’re stuck depending on them.
- Too Much Distance: Strategy doesn’t get executed from the sidelines. A solid PMO partner works shoulder-to-shoulder with your team. Avoid anyone who simply wants to throw it over the fence.
Bottom Line
Strategy doesn’t fail because it’s flawed. It fails when companies don’t build the systems, habits, and accountability to bring it to life. The ones that succeed invest in the right tools, the right people, and the discipline to follow through.
That’s where Metagyre comes in. We partner with leadership teams not just to plan, but to execute—and to turn strategy into something that actually happens.
