Tom is joined by Evan Campbell, author of Adapt to Win and a veteran technology leader and management consultant, to explore why 70% of corporate strategic initiatives fail, how “strategy decay” and organizational inertia silently erode even the best-laid plans, and why the gap between a compelling strategy and its execution often comes down to how investment capital and organizational capacity are allocated. Evan explains how “artificial precision” in budgeting, getting too granular too early, creates waste and limits agility; why CFOs should think more like venture capitalists by releasing investment in tranches tied to measurable outcomes; and how clear strategic intent, OKRs, and horizontal alignment can help organizations execute across silos. He also discusses the dangers of excess work in process, the fallacy of sunk investment that keeps zombie projects alive, and why leaders should regularly stop, redirect, or replace initiatives as better opportunities emerge.
Tom is joined by Evan Campbell, author of Adapt to Win, to explore why strategy so often fails in execution. Evan explains how strategy decay, organizational inertia, artificial precision in budgeting, and excess work in process prevent companies from adapting and investing effectively. He discusses the CFO’s role in aligning capital with strategic outcomes, using OKRs to create vertical and horizontal alignment, and applying venture capital principles to fund, evaluate, and stop initiatives. Evan also shares lessons from his experience as an Airborne Ranger and Green Beret on empowered leadership, command intent, and building organizational capability. Finally, he reflects on reinvention across his career in the military, technology, consulting, authorship, and ranch life.
Guest quotes:
“ All of the day-to-day chaos of the marketplace and the sales pipeline and all the emergencies and noise in the organization and conflicting priorities and goals of everybody in the organization drowns out the strategic signal of leaders' intent. And leaders have to put energy into the system to keep the clarity of that signal above the noise.”
“If your strategy has any creativity or innovativeness or significant growth objectives in it, you have to force the organization to make that change. The CFO is crucially important in both getting that strategic message through and getting things moving in a new direction.”
“Because we didn't deploy the strategy with clarity, we don't have that steel thread of objectives and measures that allows us to show that we're making the right investment decision. You fall behind competitively because you're not funding innovation or things that are disruptive or drive competitive advantage.”
Links & Resources:
YouTube Timestamps:
00:00 Show Intro and Guest Overview
04:09 When does strategy become an investment allocation decision?
07:26 The CFO’s role: why agility and control aren’t opposites
09:17 Strategy decay: why execution is so hard to get right
12:25 Spotting decay early: strategy deployment and execution governance
16:04 Funding long-term bets that lack short-term ROI
19:29 Measuring the unquantifiable with OKRs
22:22 The killer feature of OKRs: horizontal alignment
24:57 Making trade-offs and knowing your true capacity
27:42 Killing zombie projects: creating a culture where stopping is a good thing
31:40 Moving beyond the traditional budget: lean portfolio management
34:50 How leaders know when it’s time to change strategy
37:47 Leadership lessons from his time as an Airborne Ranger and Green Beret
42:15 Where to find Evan Campbell and closing thoughts