From “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon
The final element is execution. The only way a strategy can get implemented is if we dedicate resources to it. Good intentions are not enough – you’re not implementing the strategy that you intend if you don’t spend your time, your money, and your talent in a way that is consistent with your intentions. In your life, there are going to be constant demands for your time and attention. How are you going to decide which of those demands gets resources? The trap many people fall into is to allocate their time to whoever screams loudest, and their talent to whatever offers them the tastiest reward. That’s a dangerous way to build a strategy.
All of these factors – priorities, balancing plans with opportunities, and allocating your resources – combine to create your strategy. The process is continuous: even as your strategy begins to take shape, you’ll learn new things, and new problems and opportunities will always emerge. They’ll feed back in; the cycle is continuous.
If you can understand and manage this strategy process, you’ll have the best shot at getting it right – of having a career that you will truly love.
Even if you don’t end up getting to be an astronaut.