A Great Strategy Is Worthless Without Great Execution with Evan Campbell

In this episode of Unlocking Momentum, host Aaron Kopel sits down with Evan Campbell, Principal Consultant at Adaptivity and author of Adapt to Win, to explore why even experienced leadership teams struggle to turn strategy into real organizational progress. Evan draws from a career spanning the military, technology leadership, startups, consulting, and enterprise transformation to explain why creating a strategy is only the beginning.Key Takeaways:Strategy Needs Strong Execution: A good strategy means little without consistent communication, investment, and clear execution across the organization.Good Leaders Build Independent Thinkers: Strong leaders develop people who can solve problems and make sound decisions independently.Cross-Team Alignment Is Essential: Strategic initiatives can fail when departments prioritize their own goals instead of shared company objectives.Employee Involvement Strengthens OKRs: Involving employees in goal-setting improves understanding, ownership, and accountability.AI Needs Strategic Direction: AI experiments should have clear business value and support broader strategic priorities.Adaptability Creates an Advantage: Organizations that can quickly adjust and execute their strategy are better positioned to compete. Episode Timestamps: [00:00:00] - Teaser: Evan explains why organizations struggle to turn strategy into execution and underestimate the effort required.[00:04:48] - The Leadership Lesson Evan Learned: Evan shares why leadership is about developing people to think and solve problems independently, not having all the answers. [00:07:04] - Unlocking Momentum for Evan: Evan discusses strategy deployment, organizational inertia, and how strategy clarity can fade across company layers. [00:16:08] - Horizontal Alignment and the "Catchball" Method: Evan explains the importance of cross-functional alignment and using the Catchball method to identify team dependencies. [00:22:14] - Avoiding AI as a Shiny Object: Evan explains why AI experiments need clear business value and alignment with strategic goals. [00:30:40] - Why AI Won’t Fix Weak Systems: Evan explains why AI cannot solve underlying delivery and transformation issues.[00:38:40] - The CIO as a Strategic Partner: Evan shares how CIOs can connect technology with business goals.[00:50:36] - Learning Through Experiments: Aaron and Evan discuss testing ideas, scaling what works, and learning from failures.[00:57:10] - Closing Thoughts: Evan discusses Adapt to Win and how listeners can connect with him.Disclosure: Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.🔗 Connect with Guest, Evan Campbell:👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evcampbell/👉 Read the breakthrough new corporate strategy book Adapt to Win: https://www.adapttowin.co/🔗 Connect with Guest’s Company Adaptivity:👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adaptivitygroup/👉 Website: https://www.adaptivitygroup.com/👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdaptivityGroup👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adaptivitygroup/🔗 More from Unlocking Momentum:👉 Website: https://www.projectbrilliant.com/👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectbrilliant/👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/project_brilliant/👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectBrilliant👉 Twitter: https://x.com/ProjBrilliant🔗 Connect with Host, Aaron Kopel:👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronkopel/👉 Email: aaron@projectbrilliant.com 🔗 Follow the Podcast:👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unlocking-momentum/id1854160757👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kvYZRD0iYCGZdPDZP1BDk?si=adb89c88728e4197👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@projectbrilliant