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Ask HN: Looking for best practices on how to execute at a high level

17 points by retreatguru ↗ HN
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.

Can anyone share practical advice or direction about how to be incredible at execution.

6 comments

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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

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.

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.

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...) has a few intriguing results:

* https://hbr.org/2017/11/how-the-most-successful-teams-bridge... * https://hbr.org/product/crossing-the-chasm-leadership-nudges...

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

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.