Think first act later?

Once upon a time in the hallowed halls of business history,

someone probably wearing an expensive suit and holding a laser pointer, asked, "What’s more important: strategy or execution?" This was followed by an awkward silence, some nervous shuffling, and eventually a decisive response: "Let's form a task force to figure it out."

The Strategists: Dreamers with PowerPoint Superpowers

Strategists are the corporate world’s visionaries. They stare into the abyss of market trends and see opportunity. They make bold proclamations like "We will redefine the way humans interact with socks!" and then promptly vanish into a meeting vortex to discuss "synergy" until lunch.

History loves a good strategist. The Roman Empire had a plan; conquer everything. Napoleon had a plan; conquer everything faster. Kodak had a plan, ignore digital photography because, honestly, who even wants that? (Oops.)

But strategy without execution? That’s just a very enthusiastic TED Talk. No matter how grand the vision, if it never leaves the PowerPoint deck, it’s just an expensive way to kill time before happy hour.

The Executors: The "Move Fast and Panic Later" Crowd

On the flip side, we have the execution-first types; the corporate equivalent of that friend who books a flight before checking if their passport is still valid. They don’t wait for a perfect plan; they just start building, launching, and occasionally hoping for the best.

Amazon is the poster child of execution-driven success: relentless, efficient, and always delivering something. SpaceX also leans into execution, building rockets now, figuring out minor details like "how not to explode" later.

And then there’s that startup you worked for that shipped an update every 17 minutes but had no idea where it was going.

Execution without strategy is basically running on a treadmill, it looks impressive, but you're not getting anywhere. Sure, you shipped 38 features this quarter, but did anyone want them?

The Grand Epiphany: The Answer is Annoyingly Obvious

So, what’s more important? Strategy or execution?

Answer: neither. And both. It’s like asking if a car needs a steering wheel or an engine. The best companies: Apple, Tesla (on a good day), and yes, even the Roman Empire when it wasn’t busy collapsing, get the balance right. They dream big but also have the discipline to make those dreams a reality.

Product managers, of course, exist to make sure strategists don’t get lost in a labyrinth of KPIs and that executors don’t sprint off a cliff. Their job is to say things like, "Yes, we could revolutionize socks, but maybe let’s start with making them not disappear in the laundry first."

So, if you’re in product management and wondering which side to choose, the answer is simple: neither. Just make sure something gets done, and that it’s worth doing. Oh, and maybe don’t ignore digital photography. Ever.