Every seasoned leader knows that even the most brilliant strategy is only as good as its execution. Battle plans that seem full of promise on the whiteboard can be undone in the field by clumsy operations or a missing link in the supply chain. This was the fear in some quarters last March when U.S. general Tommy R. Franks outlined the attack plans for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A version of this article appeared in the November 2003 issue of Harvard Business Review.
