Lore

Startup 1%/99% Idea-vs-Execution Analogy

An analogy borrowed from startup lore — the idea is worth almost nothing on its own; execution is everything — applied to product-model transformations: having the vision or plan for the transformation is only about 1% of the total work. The other 99% is the unglamorous execution: setting individual teams up to succeed, aligning stakeholders one by one, working through the anti-patterns as they surface.

Apply: use this to calibrate expectations before a transformation kicks off — a compelling transformation vision or announcement is the easy, exciting part; budget the overwhelming majority of leadership time for the slow, granular execution work that follows, not the launch moment. See Ingredients of a Product-Model Transformation.