Striving Towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

I have come to realize that strategy isn’t something you decide once and forget about—it’s more like a long game you’re constantly playing. For me, it’s about knowing where I want to end up and then breaking that journey into smaller, manageable milestones. This approach gives me room to course-correct when things don’t go as planned, sharpen my thinking along the way, and learn faster, all while keeping my eyes on that ultimate destination.

What really matters is clarity. I need to know exactly where I want to be, what success actually looks like for me, and what concrete steps will get me there. I think of strategy like chess, honestly. You’re planning your moves, anticipating what might happen next, reading the situation, and staying ready to change direction when the board shifts.

This is where I see so many organizations trip up. Some get stuck in strategy paralysis—endless presentations, frameworks, review meetings—but barely execute anything. Others just ride their momentum until reality smacks them in the face.

History’s pretty clear on this. Think about Nokia and BlackBerry—they completely missed the smartphone ecosystem shift. Hindustan Motors never modernized. Fiat India couldn’t get their localization or strategy right. They all paid for not adapting.

But then look at the flip side. Apple didn’t stay a computer company—they built entire ecosystems and services. Netflix went from mailing DVDs to dominating streaming and creating their own content. Samsung evolved from copying others to leading innovation. Microsoft completely reinvented itself with a cloud-first approach under new leadership.

The difference wasn’t that these companies were smarter or had more resources. They were just willing to rethink everything, unlearn what wasn’t working anymore, and pivot without losing sight of where they were headed.

To me, good strategy isn’t rigid. Great strategy is crystal clear about what you’re trying to achieve but completely flexible in how you get there.

I’m curious—what have you seen more often? Organizations that fail because they’re stuck in endless planning mode, or ones that crash because they waited too long to adapt?