The Problem Is Not Strategy. It Is Execution.

For 29 years, I have heard the same phrase in boardrooms and committees: “we need to transform.”

And for 29 years, I have seen the same outcome: consulting firms deliver a flawless presentation, a three-year roadmap and a business case with an attractive IRR. Eighteen months later, the company still operates exactly as before.

McKinsey estimates that roughly 70% of transformations fail to achieve their objectives. The exact figure is debatable. The pattern is not.

Why do they fail? In my experience, strategy is almost never the issue. The problem is that no one knows how the company operates today. The future is designed on top of a present that has not been mapped, is not measured and has no clear owners.

It is like renovating a house without knowing where the pipes run.

Before investing a single peso in technology, AI or consultants, answer three questions:

1. Are your critical processes documented end to end, as they operate TODAY?
2. Does each process have ONE owner, identified by name?
3. Can you measure each process’s performance this week without creating a special spreadsheet?

If you answered “no” to any of them, your problem is not strategy. It is operational clarity. The good news is that this can be solved, but it must be solved first.

Clarity first, then transformation.