Most organizations don’t fail at strategy. They fail at execution. But it’s not due to lack of effort—it’s due to misunderstood signals and information gaps in the strategic execution. The systems meant to connect strategy with action are often riddled with blind spots. And the larger the organization, the more those blind spots compound in cost, risk, and lost momentum.
This article breaks down the core issues holding execution back, including:
- Execution blind spots
- Portfolio delivery risks
- Decision-making gaps
- Strategy-to-delivery breakdowns
- Enterprise execution challenges
Below, we outline the 10 most costly information gaps in strategic execution—what’s missing, who’s affected, why it matters, and most importantly, how to fix it.
1. Execution Visibility
Gap: Leaders lack reliable, cross-functional insight into whether execution is aligned with strategy.
Missing Info: Which projects truly support strategic goals? What’s lagging or at risk?
Who It Affects: C-suite, portfolio leaders, finance
Why It Matters: Without visibility, trade-offs can’t be made intelligently. Strategic drift sets in, and surprises multiply.
What to Fix: Establish a three tiered execution structure that ties initiatives directly to strategic outcomes—and makes status visible in business terms.
Recommended Resource: The Strategy Execution Gap (And How To Close It) by Rhythm Systems
Summary: This article discusses how to achieve company-wide alignment and accountability, emphasizing the importance of visibility in strategic execution.
Link: https://www.rhythmsystems.com/blog/ceo-strategy-execution
2. Prioritization Rationale
Gap: Teams don’t understand why certain projects get funded, delayed, or shut down.
Missing Info: Transparent, consistent criteria for business value and strategic fit.
Who It Affects: Business units, PMO, product teams
Why It Matters: When priorities feel arbitrary, engagement drops and silos dig in.
What to Fix: Build a portfolio model that scores, ranks, and explains prioritization in a way teams can trust—and leaders can defend.
Recommended Resource: Strategic Refusal and Prioritization: Closing the Vision-Execution Gap by Kevin Boyum
Summary: This piece explores the importance of clear vision and values in guiding project prioritization, helping teams understand decision-making processes.
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/strategic-refusal-prioritization-closing-gap-kevin-boyum-mkahc/
3. Capacity to Execute
Gap: The organization commits to more than it can realistically deliver.
Missing Info: Actual capacity across people, capital, and vendor ecosystems.
Who It Affects: Resource managers, delivery teams, finance
Why It Matters: Overloaded teams burn out. Strategic initiatives stall.
What to Fix: Integrate demand management with real-time capacity validation to ground plans in delivery reality—not hope.
Recommended Resource: The 2025 State of Strategy Execution: Key Insights and Takeaways by AchieveIt
Summary: This blog post provides data-driven insights into common execution challenges, including overcommitment, and offers strategies to align capacity with strategic goals.
Link: https://www.achieveit.com/resources/blog/the-2025-state-of-strategy-execution-key-insights-and-takeaways/
4. Decision-Making Bottlenecks
Gap: Decision rights are unclear. Approvals stall. Accountability is scattered.
Missing Info: Who can make which decisions, when, and with what data.
Who It Affects: Sponsors, initiative owners, program leads
Why It Matters: Delayed or missed decisions create risk, waste, and lost momentum.
What to Fix: Push decision making down to most impactful level. Clarify governance models that define roles, thresholds, and escalation paths—and enforce them through your operating rhythm.
Recommended Resource: Part 5 – When Rigid Operations Cause Decision-Making Bottlenecks by The Powers Company
Summary: This article examines how rigid operational structures can lead to decision-making delays and offers solutions to streamline processes.
Link: https://www.thepowerscompany.com/resources/decision-making-bottlenecks/
5. Strategy-to-Execution Translation
Gap: Strategy lives in PowerPoint; execution lives in project plans—with no bridge between them.
Missing Info: Operationalized milestones, incremental goals, and delivery context.
Who It Affects: PMO, ops, delivery teams
Why It Matters: Teams may execute well—but on the wrong things.
What to Fix: Translate strategy into a roadmap of strategic themes, measurable outcomes, and integrated execution work-streams.
Recommended Resource: How to Move from Strategy to Execution by Harvard Business Review
Summary: This article discusses the challenges of translating strategic plans into actionable tasks and provides guidance on bridging the gap.
Link: https://hbr.org/2022/06/how-to-move-from-strategy-to-execution
6. Feedback Loops
Gap: Execution data is collected—but rarely used to shape future strategy.
Missing Info: Reliable insight into what’s working, what’s stuck, and why.
Who It Affects: Strategy office, CFO, executive sponsors
Why It Matters: If you can’t learn from delivery, you can’t adapt your strategy.
What to Fix: Build short feedback loops that combine outcome data with delivery signals—feeding them into continual planning, funding, and prioritization.
Recommended Resource: Harness the Power of Feedback Loops for Better Strategy Design and Delivery by Harvard Business Review
Summary: This piece highlights the importance of effective feedback mechanisms in refining strategy and improving execution outcomes.
Link: https://hbr.org/sponsored/2017/10/harness-the-power-of-feedback-loops-for-better-strategy-design-and-delivery
7. Governance Effectiveness
Gap: Organizations implement frameworks (e.g., stage gates, SAFe) without knowing if they’re improving outcomes.
Missing Info: Whether governance creates clarity or just compliance overhead.
Who It Affects: PMO, compliance, project sponsors
Why It Matters: Governance becomes a checkbox, not a decision-enabler.
What to Fix: Redesign governance to improve decision velocity, cross-functional alignment, and real accountability—not just process adherence.
Recommended Resource: Digital Governance: Closing the Digital Strategy Execution Gap by ISACA Journal
Summary: This article explores how digital governance practices can enhance strategy execution and close performance gaps.
Link: https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2020/volume-4/digital-governance
8. Integrated Risk Signals
Gap: Risks are tracked at the project level but not integrated at the portfolio or strategic level.
Missing Info: Aggregated risk exposure, risk velocity, and interdependencies.
Who It Affects: Risk officers, audit teams, portfolio execs
Why It Matters: Hidden execution risk can derail high-stakes strategies quietly.
What to Fix: Embed risk scoring and mitigation into portfolio governance—so leaders see risk alongside cost, value, and capacity.
Recommended Resource: What are the Benefits of Integrated Risk Management and Strategic Execution? by ZenGRC
Summary: This blog post discusses the advantages of integrating risk management with strategic execution to enhance decision-making and performance.
Link: https://www.zengrc.com/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-integrated-risk-management/
9. Change Readiness and Absorption
Gap: The organization underestimates how much change people can absorb at once.
Missing Info: Stakeholder readiness, change fatigue, and saturation points.
Who It Affects: HR, transformation leaders, initiative owners
Why It Matters: Even good change fails when the environment is overloaded.
What to Fix: Monitor organizational change saturation and pace initiatives to match team capacity by building on smaller incremental changes that won’t derail momentum.
Recommended Resource: What is Change Readiness & Examples by PMI
Summary: This article defines change readiness and provides examples of how to assess and improve an organization’s capacity for change.
Link: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/change-readiness-11126
10. PMO/PPMO Role Clarity
Gap: The PMO is held responsible for delivery, but isn’t given the authority or scope to ensure it.
Missing Info: Clear ownership of execution health, governance, and portfolio performance.
Who It Affects: COOs, CTO’s, CIOs, CFOs, PMO leaders
Why It Matters: The PMO becomes overhead instead of an execution engine.
What to Fix: Reposition the PMO (or adopt a fully managed model) as a business partner accountable for strategy delivery—not just project hygiene.
Recommended Resource: The Business Case for an Outsourced Project Management Office (PMO) with Portfolio Leadership: Execution, Clarity, Results at Scale
Summary: This article explains why many internal PMOs are misaligned with the demands of modern strategic execution—and how a fully managed PMO model changes that. It lays out a clear business case for outsourcing the PMO function to a partner that owns delivery, brings portfolio leadership, and integrates directly with business priorities.
Link: https://blog.metagyre.com/strategic-execution/outsourced-ppmo-strategic-delivery/
The Bottom Line
You can’t fix what you can’t see—and most strategic execution problems are information problems first. Addressing these ten gaps doesn’t just make execution more effective. It makes strategy real.
Summary: This article outlines 10 common information gaps that prevent effective strategic execution, including issues with visibility, prioritization, capacity, and PMO ownership. Each gap includes practical steps to fix it, helping organizations improve alignment, delivery, and results at scale.
