April 22, 2025
There’s a growing pattern across leadership culture right now. It shows up in big companies and small teams alike. In nonprofits, tech startups, local trades, and remote-first creative shops.
Everyone has a lot going on — and very little is getting done. Projects are launched. Initiatives are announced. Ideas are pitched. But ask two people in the room who owns it, what the finish line is, or when it’s actually due — and things get fuzzy. This isn’t about laziness. And it’s not about hustle either. It’s about clarity, behavior, and follow-through.
In the March 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review, an article titled “Getting Big Things Done”
highlighted a core truth that applies far beyond government systems and public projects:
“The problem is not that people lack imagination or good intentions... it’s that the systems and structures we rely on often work against the completion of anything meaningful.” — Toby Lester, Harvard Business Review
We see this everywhere. Plans keep expanding. Priorities keep shifting. And complexity gets mistaken for progress. Meanwhile, the businesses that quietly outperform their peers? They do fewer things — and finish them.
Execution doesn’t collapse because people stop caring. It collapses because no one asks the hard question. That is, "Did we actually do what we said we would do?" If you're leading right now, that question needs to be front and center. Not just once a quarter. Every week. Every meeting. Every cycle.
The ones who win aren’t louder. They’re just more consistent. They don’t wait to feel ready. They finish the work.