Why Great Strategies Fail and How to Stop It

In this edition of The Exec Edge, we sat down with Luke Short, Senior Director, APAC Commercial Transformation at PepsiCo, to unpack one of the toughest challenges for leaders today: why great strategies so often fail in execution. His responses, lightly edited for style and flow, reveal the conditions for successful delivery, the pitfalls that derail ambition, and the role strategy functions must play to keep momentum alive.t strategies from failing. What Successful Execution Looks Like

For Luke, execution success means there’s a clear line of sight from strategic priorities to frontline behaviours. It’s not just about alignment on paper, it’s about measurable impact in the business. Whether it’s revenue growth, reduced cost-to-serve, “Perfect Store” compliance, or capability adoption, you should be able to track the linkage directly in your commercial KPIs.

Execution, in other words, must live in the numbers.

Where Strategies Break Down

The most common breakdown, Luke explains, comes from misalignment between ambition and execution. Ambitions can be bold, but if ownership is unclear, activation weak, or frontline routines missing, momentum evaporates.

This misalignment turns strategy into aspiration. Without translation into clear, repeatable actions at market level, execution remains inconsistent, and results stall.

Ensuring Alignment Across Teams

Luke points out that global success only happens if there is local relevance. His organisation takes a programmatic approach: anchoring teams to specific outcomes while giving markets the flexibility to adapt within defined guardrails.

This balance is essential. Guardrails provide consistency, but local adaptation ensures strategies land in a way that makes sense for each market. Without that balance, either rigidity or fragmentation undermines execution.

Mechanisms and Cadences That Work

Discipline matters. Luke describes a cadence built around monthly functional and program reviews, tied directly to both lead and lag KPIs. These touchpoints are complemented by a quarterly reset, where priorities are rebalanced against impact, resources, and market shifts.

This rhythm ensures strategies stay dynamic. Instead of relying on static annual plans, the quarterly reset creates space to adjust course before small issues become failures.

Knowing When to Pivot

Luke shares a telling example from Southeast Asia, where a go-to-market strategy stalled during rollout. Real-time field feedback revealed technology readiness gaps, prompting his team to pause, rework, and relaunch the solution.

He stresses a simple but powerful principle: if something isn’t working, don’t wait and hope it will fix itself..it won’t. Recognising early signals and responding quickly can save months of wasted effort and unlock better outcomes in the long run.

The Role of the Strategy Function

Finally, Luke challenges a common misconception: strategy isn’t just a “plan on a page.” For him, the strategy function must stay engaged beyond planning, co-owning execution, defining and monitoring KPIs, and working shoulder to shoulder with delivery teams to keep momentum alive and course-correct when needed.

This shift redefines the role of strategists: not just designers of ambition, but partners in delivery.

Closing Thought

Luke’s insights underline a sobering truth: strategies rarely fail because they’re bad ideas. They fail because ownership isn’t clear, cadence is weak, or leaders hesitate to act when things stall. The antidote is disciplined execution: making priorities measurable, aligning global and local teams, maintaining strong rhythms, and embedding strategy teams in the trenches of delivery.

That’s how great strategies succeed where others fail.