How to Avoid Getting Stuck in The Strategy Trap

Businessman trapped in a small box, walls closing in.

He also introduces his 6C’s execution framework divided into two phases: setting the stage (cocreation, clarity, capacity) and showtime (communication, coordination, coaching). Ertell further emphasizes the importance of slowing down to speed up, involving both advocates and detractors in strategy development, and treating strategy and execution as one integrated process rather than separate phases.

From Vision to Results

The business-oriented, no-nonsense guide to execution draws on the author’s 30-plus years of experience leading execution at global brands like Nike, Sur La Table, Borders, and Tower Records. No doubt, Ertell has some compelling brand stories to share, and the pitfalls and potential of strategy and execution. So just what inspired Ertell to write his book?

Ertell relates, “One of the most common data points out there is that most strategies fail. And the number one reason most strategies fail is poor execution. Yet we have thousands of books on how to write strategies, and there’s just not that much out there about how to execute. I really felt like I wanted to help people address this issue. I’ve been an operator in many businesses for decades. I had pretty good success, so I wanted to write something about execution from an operator’s perspective.”

He also kept in mind other executives and their perspectives as well. The book interviews a range of other business executives from all sorts of different industries, different sizes of companies, different ownership models, whether it’s public or private equity or independently owned. Everyone, it seems, can fall into the strategy trap.

“It’s a really practical guide to how to go about actually bringing your strategy to life successfully,” he says.

Introducing the 6C’s Framework

The corporate innovation community is certainly no stranger to the strategy trap, either. It is a common challenge in this environment when attempting to move from ideation to implementation of strategies, dealing with a product development pipeline, bringing in stakeholders, and so on.

All Things Innovation asked Ertell to break down his 6C’s Execution Framework, which is a viable ecosystem for the innovation professional as well.

“The 6C’s can be broken up into two phases. There’s setting the stage and showtime,” Ertell relates. “Within each of those phases are three C’s. Setting the stage is cocreation, clarity, and capacity. And that’s all about bringing a variety of people together to build your strategy so that you get lots of different viewpoints from people who are actually going to be involved in bringing it to life. You get alignment that way. You get validation, and you get commitment. And then clarity—you’ve got to spend time making it simple, easy to understand, and meaningful to people.”

He adds, “Capacity is super critical. You can’t launch some new innovation or new strategy over the top of the existing business if you don’t make room for it. We talk a lot about that. That’s the first phase, setting the stage.”

The second phase is showtime, with three more C’s: communication, coordination, and coaching.

“You have to get the message out there,” Ertell says. “This is going to be a big change. Get that message out early. Make it loud so people hear it and be continuously talking about it. Coordination is all about basic planning, blocking and tackling to make sure that you’ve got clear accountability and clear ways to understand progress as you’re moving forward. And then coaching is really a subset of overall leadership, but it’s an active leadership. It’s the part that is about motivation, creating incentives, and making quick decisions—and pivoting when things go wrong. So it’s really that entire system that works together to bring things to life. They all matter, but it does start with cocreation—that really sets the stage for all the rest.”

Is the Lone Inventor Gone Forever?

With so much emphasis today on cocreation and collaboration, we wondered about the concept of the lone inventor. It might be a cliché, but the lone inventor is still a prevalent concept in innovation. Think of the lone inventor, toiling away in his basement or garage lab and you get the idea behind the concept.

“The lone innovator might be able to do a lot on his or her own,” says Ertell, “but you’re unlikely to bring that entire innovation to the breadth of an enterprise or bring it to the market without help. Anytime you have to start involving other people, then it gets more complicated, number one. But you have to have some structure and some discipline around how you’re going to bring people together so that they all understand the North Star that you’re going for. They all need to understand how you’re defining success and their role.”

Ertell adds, “The clearer you define it, on the big picture, the North Star, with clear objectives and clear expected outcomes, the more you can delegate the ‘how’ to people. You might be an innovator who’s maybe an engineer who has done some kind of cool innovation engineering, but, ultimately, you might need a marketer to get that message out there. How are you laying out what you’re trying to accomplish, what you hope this will do for an end customer in a way that the marketer can understand it and then put their own expertise into it to drive that forward for both of you?”

Lessons Learned on Execution

The book also has a lot of examples of what success and failure have looked like from other industries. Just what is a notable strategy that succeeded or failed because of execution?

“I open the book with one that’s failed. It’s a famous story about Ron Johnson who was the guy who led the team that built the Apple Stores very successfully, but then he became the CEO of JCPenney. And when he got to JCPenney, he made some very quick strategy decisions to really change the way the company operated, and he rolled them out immediately to all stores. Boom. No testing. Out really fast to all the stores, and it did not work. He did not do all the things I talk about in terms of the 6C’s to bring people together, to get people on board, to help kind of really foster this forward. The result? The business dropped 25%. The company’s stock dropped 55%, and Johnson was out in 17 months,” he says.

Of course, there are also success stories that Ertell has shared from the book, and his own career. That includes his time at Nike.

Ertell relates, “I was running global retail operations, working with stores across the world, and one thing that we found was that store managers were spending a ton of time trying to get data to understand how their stores operated. We recognized there was an opportunity to use mobile phones and get them the right kind of reporting so they could drive their business on a regular basis and have the information at their fingertips.”

“So we cocreated with all these stores,” he says. “We figured out exactly what metrics they needed. We made it super clear for them. They were the right metrics, so it was very meaningful and they could get involved in it. We spent a lot of time helping them understand what we were about to do, what we did, and that this was going to be beneficial to them, and then coached and managed them through it. That was a very successful rollout that was widely praised by the teams who actually got the end product.”

Slowing Down to Speed Up

What can leadership do to address the strategy trap? How can it be avoided or at least addressed?

“First, just to define what the strategy trap is, it’s when leaders get very excited about the idea of the strategy and the presentation of the strategy, and they don’t take the time to do all the things I talked about in terms of the 6C’s. They just kind of launch it out there. That happens all the time in companies. So slowing down to speed up is super important,” says Ertell.

He adds, “I think it’s also very important to recognize that strategy and execution are not two different things. They are one in the same. And I always say that that strategy is kind of the early part of execution, not something that happens before execution. You have to bring people together. Cocreation is so important.”

It’s also key to bring in the right (or wrong) people. “Bring people in to help create the strategy,” he says. “Figure out and define your North Star, where you’re headed, and what your expected outcomes are, but bring people in from across the organization. Bring in people who are advocates about the idea, but bring in detractors too. Bring in the haters. Bring them in early because they’re going to represent other people in the organization who are going to resist things. The earlier you can get them in and understand why they’re resisting, work through those issues, the better off you’re going to be as you roll it out.”

“The number one advice I got from people I talked to for the book, was slow down to speed up,” advises Ertell. “And what they meant by that was not go slow. They just meant if you’re thinking about a car on a curvy road, a race car, you slow down into the curve so that you can accelerate out of it. And that’s what they meant. Take time. Go quickly to figure out all these 6C’s. But get that stuff right first so that when you get it out to the rest of the team, you’re able to move quickly because you’re not doing a lot of rework because people don’t understand it or resist it.”

Getting Stuck in the Moment

If a corporate innovator is stuck in the strategy trap right now, what would Ertell tell them to do? What’s that first step to try to regain momentum?

Ertell says, “Make sure that you’re really clear about whatever this innovation you have is. How is it addressing a broader need for the business? What is that overall objective for the customer, for example? What would success look like as this rolled out? Get really clear about that. Then start bringing some people in to help work with you to figure it out. What’s it going to take? Let’s sort of talk through it. Figure out where the strengths are of this idea, where the weaknesses are, what are the needs in terms of marketing or sales or supply chain.”

He adds, “Have we thought through all the components that are going to be necessary to scale it out there? Work through that stuff as early as you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can do this in iterations. That’s why I call it a system too. You may have a pilot that you want to start with. You still should work through all these different ideas about what that pilot is going to be. How do you make it as successful as you can? Go quickly on that, but work through all the things that need to be involved. Work through all 6C’s and get it out there quickly and then iterate.”

“If you’re going to involve other people, you have to get other people in the room.”

Editor’s Note: Check out Kevin Ertell’s The Strategy Trap: Why Companies Fail at Execution and How to Get It Right, available on Amazon

Overcoming Fear & Embracing Innovation

Graphic of a miniature man on a scale, pulling at a needle indicating the level of risk.

The Policy & Perception of Risk-Taking

A new study, “Workplace Innovation at Risk: Why Fear Still Lives in Supportive Cultures,” recently shed light on the fear factor in innovation and the workplace. The survey, from Intoo and conducted by The Harris Poll, found nearly three out of four full/part-time employed Americans (74%) say they are expected to bring new ideas to improve things at work, such as creative solutions, fresh strategies, and better processes.

This is not necessarily a new phenomenon. But the study shows that even innovative companies that promote psychological safety, workplace innovation is often diminished by the fear factor. While 78% say they regularly bring new ideas to improve things at work, nearly two-thirds (64%) wish they were more innovative at work. The poll seems to indicate that while corporate culture says it demands creativity and open collaboration, there’s still an aspiration gap. Employees feel like they should be doing more but are afraid to push the boundaries.

With that said, 30% of respondents also don’t wish they were more innovative. This group may feel satisfied with their contributions or perhaps wary of the risks that come with pushing boundaries. The fear of risk taking is key here. Two in five employed Americans (41%) are afraid that if they make a mistake at work, such as giving wrong information or forgetting to complete a task, it could result in being fired. In a world demanding experimentation, 41% are worried that a mistake could cost them their job.

As Intoo notes, “That fear isn’t abstract. It can live in the hesitation before speaking up in a meeting. In the decision to play it safe rather than propose something bold. In the second-guessing after hitting ‘send.’”

With both fear and safety mixing in the workplace, it’s a challenge to achieve a balance. Intoo, for its part, seems to feel that there is always going to be some anxiety in an innovative culture, even a supportive one where mistakes are presented as learning opportunities.

Intoo notes, “And yet, the emotional undercurrent tells another story. A significant minority—nearly one in five (17%)—disagree that their manager is always receptive to their new ideas. And 41% fear termination for everyday mistakes like giving someone wrong information or forgetting to complete a task/completing incorrectly. That gap between policy and perception is where innovation either thrives or stalls. Psychological safety isn’t just about what leaders say. It’s about what employees believe will happen when something goes wrong.”

Additional Resources

Moving Past Innovation Roadblocks

With the pace of change accelerating, fostering innovation in corporate enterprises can be a challenging task—a task that is very much dependent on the innovation culture, the team, the leadership, stakeholder engagement, cross collaboration, and other key factors. Some companies may find themselves ineffective at innovation or transformative initiatives. They’ve hit the roadblocks of innovation. Here, we look at a few of the common challenges that prevent innovation, what might be the cause of such problems, and a few solutions that could be leveraged.

Creating a Safe Space for Innovation

The survey from Intoo and Harris Poll portrays a rather mixed signal when it comes to workplace innovation culture, with 79% saying mistakes are typically treated as learning opportunities; 81% feel safe trying new things to improve business results; 82% would feel safe admitting they don’t know something at work, without worrying about being fired; and 77% say their manager is always receptive to their new ideas. It seems both fear and safety can be exhibited at times in the workplace.

But there is a gap between what company policy may be and what employees actually believe will happen if things go off course. Therein lies an opportunity to close that gap and to truly create an open environment where experimentation is encouraged and creativity is accelerated.

Intoo notes that an organization should ask themselves:

  • Do employees believe mistakes are learning opportunities, or just hear that they are?
  • Do managers model vulnerability and admit their own knowledge gaps?
  • Is feedback after failure framed constructively?
  • Are there visible examples of people who tried something bold, failed, and thrived anyway?

A final question from Intoo asks, “When your employees take that leap, do they feel like they’re flying—or falling?”

Video: “From Fear to Flourishing: How Psychological Safety Fuels Innovation: Leo Chan,” courtesy of TEDx Talks.

Bringing AI to CPG: From Creative Output to Coordinated Advantage

Two large purple rings interlocked together, reflecting coordination.

The real disruption AI brings to CPG is not creative. It’s coordination.

That may sound less exciting, but it is far more consequential. For large consumer brands, the hardest challenge has never been generating more ideas. It has been aligning teams, data, decisions, and execution quickly enough to respond to the market in real time.

That is where AI is beginning to change the game.

Identifying Market Signals

Consider two signals from industry leaders. In a recent interview with Marketing Dive, Procter & Gamble’s Marc Pritchard described how the company used AI, data, and sprint-based collaboration in the home care category to move from retailer input to insights, concepts, prototype creative, and media execution in about three weeks.

Unilever points in the same direction. As reported by CIO.inc, the company is applying AI across accessibility, product information, factory operations, forecasting, and supply-chain modeling.

The significance is not just the range of use cases. It is that companies as large, process-heavy, and operationally disciplined as P&G and Unilever are using AI to compress the distance between functions that historically worked in sequence.

Defining the Handoff Problem

That matters because CPG has long been defined by handoffs. Consumer insights informed strategy. Strategy shaped innovation or campaign planning. Brand teams briefed agencies. Sales teams managed retailer conversations on a separate cadence. Media activated later. Category management and supply chain often worked to yet another rhythm.

That model made sense in an era when scale, consistency, and control mattered more than speed. It was built to manage complexity, and for a long time, it worked.

Today’s market is less forgiving. Consumer preferences shift quickly. Retailers expect faster responsiveness. Media and commerce are increasingly intertwined. Product narratives spread in real time. Shelf conditions change fast. Value pressure can alter purchasing behavior week to week. Meanwhile, challenger brands have shown that speed itself can be a competitive advantage.

That is one reason startups moved earlier on AI. Not necessarily because they were more sophisticated, but because they had less organizational drag. They used AI to compensate for a lack of scale, helping them generate insights faster, test messages faster, build content faster, and respond faster.

Now incumbents are using AI for a different reason: to reduce the drag that comes with scale.

That is what makes the P&G and Unilever examples so important. It is not that they discovered something startups missed. It is that some of the industry’s most influential operators are showing how AI can help large organizations regain speed without sacrificing the advantages of scale.

And once companies of that size begin talking publicly about AI as part of how work gets done, not just as an experiment, the rest of the category pays attention.

This distinction matters because many companies still misunderstand where AI’s value will come from.

The Real AI Advantage: Coordination

Yes, AI can help generate creative faster. But faster creative does not fix a slow organization. If approvals still drag, retailer insights do not travel, sales and marketing remain disconnected, and innovation and media still run on different clocks, AI simply produces more output inside the same bottlenecks.

The companies that gain the most from AI will not be the ones making the most content. They will be the ones redesigning how decisions get made. They will use AI to shorten the path from signal to action, reducing the lag between retailer input, consumer insight, brand development, and what the market actually sees.

That is the real advantage: coordination.

That is why the next chapter of AI in CPG is unlikely to be won by marketing alone. The real winners will connect AI across commercial functions: insights, brand, sales, retail media, innovation, supply chain, manufacturing, and e-commerce. The challenge is no longer tool adoption. It is operational alignment.

That is easy to underestimate because coordination is less visible than content. Consumers do not see handoffs. Investors do not applaud better cross-functional workflows. Conference stages prefer demos to process redesign. But inside large organizations, coordination is often the real source of delay, cost, and missed opportunity.

But markets do not reward the company with the most content. They reward the company that can sense, decide, and respond the fastest, with enough scale to make that response matter.

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