
Ask HN: Looking for best practices on how to execute at a high level - retreatguru
We are a 25 person tech startup in the wellness space and while our culture is amazing; really good execution is an ongoing struggle for us.<p>Can anyone share practical advice or direction about how to be incredible at execution.
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pryelluw
Well, then the culture is not so amazing. Your execution struggles are due to
poor strategy. Go read this book:[0].

Feel free to email me (email in profile) if you want to discuss in more
detail. But read the first chapter of the book first.

[0] [https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-being-
lost-2ef5f05eb1ec](https://medium.com/wardleymaps/on-being-lost-2ef5f05eb1ec)

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retreatguru
Good point! That was a very fascinating read. I've never heard of Wardley Maps
before. I really liked this quote:

> Most companies aren’t playing chess when it comes to strategy (despite what
> you read). At best, most are simply meme copying others or running on gut
> feel and highest paid person’s opinion.

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pryelluw
It was an eye opener for me as well. Ive adopted wardley mapping as part of my
business and engineering processes. The results have been really good.

I also help people get started with it because is still rather unknown. Reach
out and I can help you out. No strings or BS. Just paying forward.

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davidgardner
I agree with @pryelluw's comments about strategy. Developing a clear strategy
that maps to current market conditions, competencies and is defensible is
hard. I haven't read Art of War yet, but plan to now.

Regarding advice on successful execution, I recommend hbr.org. It has lots of
business advice, how-to's, case studies and even document templates. Although
there much of their content is free, some require purchase. A quick search for
"successful execution"
([https://hbr.org/search?search_type=&term=successful+executio...](https://hbr.org/search?search_type=&term=successful+execution&loaded=1))
has a few intriguing results:

* [https://hbr.org/2017/11/how-the-most-successful-teams-bridge...](https://hbr.org/2017/11/how-the-most-successful-teams-bridge-the-strategy-execution-gap) * [https://hbr.org/product/crossing-the-chasm-leadership-nudges...](https://hbr.org/product/crossing-the-chasm-leadership-nudges-to-help-transition-from-strategy-formulation-to-strategy-implementation/BH970-PDF-ENG)

Please update us if know if you find other resources that help.

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retreatguru
I have learned a lot from HBR, but i also find it's skewed, rightfully so, to
larger corporations.

I enjoy [https://firstround.com/review/](https://firstround.com/review/) quite
a bit. Excellent quality articles.

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tmaly
Read or listen to audio book The One True Thing by founder of Keller Williams.
The idea is extreme Pareto principle.

Also staying really good at communication and explaining the why to the team
helps. If they don’t understand the mission, they won’t know what to do under
stress.

