HBR- What To Do When You Think Strategy is Wrong

By Amy Gallo
Harvard Business Review

Chances are that at some point in your career you've been asked to implement a strategy that was developed by someone other than yourself. A manager's job is to implement that strategy, and to be sure that her team, unit, or department executes well. But what if you believe the strategy you've been asked to implement is flawed? Perhaps you think the strategy won't achieve the intended result, or worse, that it will put the company at risk. Regardless of the severity of your concern, you have an obligation to speak up. However, immediately pulling the strategy fire alarm isn't always useful, and may brand you as an alarmist. It's important to find ways to express your concerns productively. By acting cautiously and thoughtfully, you can make your concerns heard while perhaps saving your team — or the company — time, energy, and money.

What the Experts Say

Strategy development is a difficult, time-intensive, and often messy process. The end result is never perfect. However, as a good citizen in any organization, you have an obligation to act if you see something wrong with your organization's strategy. Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and author of Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership, says, "Anyone with a deep commitment to the organization owes it to that organization to ask questions and clear up confusions." However, you need to proceed cautiously. Don Sull, Professor of Management Practice in Strategic and International Management, the Faculty Director of Executive Education at the London Business School, and author of The Upside of Turbulence, cautions, "Saying 'this is stupid and wrong' isn't helpful." Before you cry "wrong strategy," follow these three steps to understand what is truly at stake and explore your motivations.

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