Why Most Strategies Fail (and How to Build One That Doesn’t)

In corporate boardrooms and executive off-sites around the world, strategies are drafted with confidence and optimism. Slide decks are polished, visions are framed, and directional pillars are laid out. Yet according to a study by Bridges Business Consultancy, 67% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution. That means nearly two out of three strategic plans never translate into tangible results. Not because the vision is flawed, but because organizations fall into the execution gap, where ambition fails to meet consistent action.

This isn’t just theory, it’s a pattern echoed across sectors. According to Harvard Business Review, only 8% of leaders excel at both strategy creation and execution, despite 90% of executives acknowledging that strategy execution is critical to success. McKinsey research adds another layer: only 30% of transformation initiatives succeed, often due to misalignment, lack of accountability, or cultural resistance. In our own advisory experience at Strada&Co, we’ve seen these numbers play out firsthand across the Gulf and MENA markets, particularly within growing companies, government entities, and founder-led enterprises attempting to scale.

So why do most strategies fail?

The Common Pitfalls:

First, strategies often lack operational clarity. Vision statements like “Become a digital-first company” or “Expand across GCC markets” are ambitious. Still, unless they are translated into tactical initiatives with owners, milestones, and metrics, they remain wishful thinking. A recent PwC survey showed that 61% of executives struggle to bridge the gap between strategy design and day-to-day operations.

Second, there’s often fragmented ownership. In large organizations, strategy is usually treated as the responsibility of a single unit (e.g., a Strategy Office), leaving departments disconnected from both the purpose and the mechanics of delivery. In startups or mid-size firms, execution rests solely with the founder or CEO, with little empowerment or visibility across the team. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, only 49% of middle managers feel they understand their organization’s strategy, much less how to contribute to it.

Third, organizations tend to measure activity rather than impact. A Deloitte study found that 45% of companies don’t link KPIs directly to strategic goals. When performance is tracked by tasks completed, rather than outcomes achieved, it becomes harder to correct course or determine whether the strategy is working at all.

And finally, culture is often underestimated. A bold strategy that demands agility, customer obsession, or digital transformation cannot thrive in a culture built around hierarchy, risk aversion, or outdated norms. Without aligned behaviors, even the best playbook stalls.

What High-Performing Organizations Do Differently:

• They prioritize fewer goals, typically three to five strategic anchors per year, ensuring focus and alignment.

• They translate goals into systems, utilizing frameworks such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), quarterly reviews, and weekly tactical meetings to maintain visibility and a consistent execution rhythm.

• They embed shared ownership across departments and layers of leadership, encouraging distributed decision-making and clarity of roles.

• They tie metrics to strategic intent, utilizing outcome-driven KPIs and live dashboards, rather than relying solely on static reporting.

• And critically, they treat strategy as adaptive, not fixed. In today’s volatile markets, organizations that revisit their strategy every 90 days outperform those that set it annually and leave it untouched.

  
  

At Strada&Co, we work with organizations that want to close this execution gap, not just draft strategies, but build the operating rhythm that brings them to life. Whether advising on national programs, scaling startups, or enabling digital transformation in legacy organizations, our approach is grounded in the belief that strategy must be designed for execution. That means aligning leadership, structuring operating systems, empowering teams, and embedding review mechanisms that ensure the strategy evolves, not erodes.

If most strategies fail between the boardroom and the front line, then the real strategic advantage lies in execution discipline. And when that’s built into the DNA of how an organization works, not just once a year, but every week, momentum takes root, not as a project, but as a system.

Strategy doesn’t live in a presentation. It lives in how people make decisions, deliver outcomes, and adapt to change. Get that right, and the strategy doesn’t just survive, it scales.

Mouammar I. AlHadidi

Founder & CEO

Strada&Co