Sue Graftonâa best-selling American novelistâonce said, âideas are easy. Itâs the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.â She couldnât be more right.
You can have the best idea and a strong plan, but if you can’t execute, then itâs all for not. Iâve seen a lot of great ideas fall flat because they simply werenât executed well. Unfortunately, some of those were my own âgreatâ ideas. đ
This is where Iâve found it’s often better to have an okay idea thatâs well executed than a great idea that doesnât get off the ground. How we set ourselves up to execute on our ideas and visions is what makes all the difference.

Getting off the ground: executing your plan
So, what are the steps necessary to execute on your plan? For me there are four, straight-forward components:
- Get Aligned â Everyone has to be rowing in the same direction. Create clarity by defining a strategy, principles and an execution plan with a clearly defined outcome. What does success look like? Get people excited about the vision and help them buy-in. Always build the execution plan TOGETHER.
- Socialize the Plan â Talk about the strategy with everyoneâto the point where you canât think of someone you havenât Debate it and collect feedback throughout the process. Thatâs when good ideas become terrific ideas. Getting input from people who will question the planâs success, will push the team to do better and keep things on track. Donât forget: socialization is iterative â not a one-and-done thing.Â
- Create Clear Roles & Responsibilities â How are you going to bring the vision to life? Whoâs doing what to get there? One of the keys to proper execution is matching responsibilities to capabilities. Great project managers know their teamâs individual skill sets and play to those strengths.
- Check as you Go â Are you on the right path? Execution requires ongoing project management. When you lay out the roadmap to success, build check-ins and milestones, build in go/no-go checkpoints to measure if youâre on track.Â
If the project has taken you on a path different from your execution plan, analyze and be prepared to shift and even to restart if it has gone off track from the objective or something in the business case has significantly shifted.
Avoiding the crash and burn
Many things can derail a good execution plan. In my experience, complexity is the number one cause for crash and burn.
I remember when I was running the licensing team at Microsoft and we were coming up on our first set of renewals. Our first pass at an execution plan revolved around â12 steps to renew.â TWELVE STEPS! We determined that was way too many and boiled it down to THREE:
- Connect with your customer at least 12 months prior in advance to their renewal.
- Set up a meeting with the partner to create a T-12 customer engagement plan.Â
- Prepare the renewal proposal consistent with the customerâs conditions of success plan.
Once we did that, renewals took off. Simplicity is nearly always key. Which makes sense because our brains can really only handle three or four steps at a time.
In order to drive execution, you need a simple motion that is continuous, functional, and repeatable. We tend to over-complicate things. But when you boil things down to a 1-2-3 process, youâll drive real success.
Delivering results and executing is critical. As Iâve said before, we work in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately kind of world. Whether youâre working on a small project or a big game-changing idea, stay focusedâwith clarity and visionâand you will execute your goals.