When a strategy is not producing results, diagnose the gap before changing course. The cause may be an unclear target, a weak strategic choice, poor execution, missing capabilities, misleading measures, or an assumption about customers that has not been tested. First define the result you expected, then use evidence to decide what to change.
Start by defining what “results” means
Write down the outcome the strategy was meant to produce, who or what market it was meant to serve, and the time horizon in which a change should become visible. If leaders and teams have different definitions of success, they cannot reliably tell whether the strategy is working.
Separate the intended result from the work underway. Launches, meetings, outreach, and other activity may be necessary, but activity by itself does not show that the strategy is producing the intended outcome. Business measures should fit the strategy rather than reward motion for its own sake. Graham Kenny makes this connection in Harvard Business Review’s discussion of measuring business performance.
Check whether the strategy makes real choices
A plan can contain targets, projects, and resource allocations without explaining why those actions should help the organization win. Ask whether it makes coherent choices about where to compete or focus, and how the organization expects to succeed there. If the answer is a list of initiatives rather than a clear rationale, the problem may be the strategy itself, not the team’s effort.
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Harvard Business Review’s 2025 Executive summary of a masterclass with Roger L. Martin distinguishes strategy—the choices that position an organization to win in a market—from planning, which allocates resources and sets actions within the organization’s control. HBR Executive presents that distinction; it is a useful way to check whether a document called a strategy actually explains how the planned work is supposed to create an advantage.
Find out whether execution is the constraint
If the strategic logic still holds, look at whether the organization can carry it out. Check whether people understand the priorities, have the required skills and resources, and can coordinate work across teams. An otherwise plausible strategy can stall because the organization lacks the ability or alignment to deliver it.
In a March 2015 Harvard Business Review article, Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes, and Charles Sull report that “two-thirds to three-quarters of large organizations struggle with execution.” The article passage does not specify the underlying study’s sample, geography, or measurement method, so treat that as an attributed figure from the article, not a universal benchmark.
Execution difficulty is not proof that every strategy is sound. Michael Beer’s discussion of transformation efforts likewise describes organizations that fail to carry out their strategy. Use the distinction diagnostically: determine whether the intended choices are flawed, or whether the organization is unable to deliver them.
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Check that your measures track the intended outcome
Compare actual results with the outcome the strategy was meant to create, using a small set of measures tied to its logic. A measure can be precise and still be unhelpful if it tracks activity that is only loosely connected to the result. Make sure the time period is appropriate to the expected impact, and avoid changing the yardstick each time results disappoint.
Also distinguish a weak signal from a confirmed cause. Rising attrition or declining revenue, for example, can accompany misalignment during a pivot, growth, or organizational rebuild, but neither symptom by itself identifies why the strategy is struggling. Faye McCray discusses these conditions in a January 22, 2026 Harvard Business Review article.
Test the assumptions the strategy depends on
If success depends on customer interest, willingness to pay, or a preference for one offer over another, do not treat the assumption as a fact. Seek evidence with an experiment proportionate to the cost and risk of being wrong. Strategyzer’s guide to testing business ideas describes several options:
- Landing pages: gauge interest in an offer or concept.
- Presales or letters of intent: look for stronger evidence of willingness to commit or pay.
- Prototypes or MVPs: test whether a key assumption holds. An MVP may use a cheaper proxy for the final product rather than a scaled-down version of it.
- Split tests: compare two or more versions that differ on a chosen element to learn about customer preferences.
These methods can help reduce uncertainty; they do not guarantee a reliable answer in every setting. Choose a test that addresses the specific assumption in doubt, and interpret its result in light of how closely the test resembles the decision customers would actually make.
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Choose the next move from the evidence
Use the pattern of evidence to choose a focused response rather than rewriting everything at once. The following comparison is a practical diagnostic synthesis, not a universal decision rule.
| What the evidence suggests | Likely issue to investigate | Next move |
|---|---|---|
| The intended outcome or definition of success is disputed, or measures do not connect to it. | Unclear goals or measurement. | Agree on the outcome, audience, time horizon, and a small set of relevant measures before judging performance. |
| The initiatives do not explain where the organization will focus or how it expects to win. | Weak or incomplete strategic choices. | Reconsider the strategic premise and make the choices explicit before expanding the activity list. |
| The strategic premise remains plausible, but teams lack skills, resources, clarity, or coordination. | Execution or capability constraint. | Address the specific delivery bottleneck and align teams around the priorities. |
| The strategy depends on an unverified customer response, such as interest, willingness to pay, or a feature preference. | Untested assumption. | Run a proportionate experiment that measures the uncertain response. |
After making a focused adjustment, keep the outcome measures stable long enough to see whether it changes the result. If evidence contradicts the strategic premise, reconsider the choices; if the premise still appears sound but delivery is weak, address execution or capability instead.
Further reading
For readers who want a book-length treatment of strategic choices, Kenny’s HBR article identifies his book Strategy Discovery. The article does not evaluate it against other strategy books, so treat it as an optional related read rather than a tested recommendation.
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