Commerce Beyond Borders

The Strategy Trap: Why Great Plans Fail at Execution

In this episode of Commerce Beyond Borders, host Renee Hartman and co‑host Chris Baker sit down with retail veteran Kevin Artel, author of *The Strategy Trap: Why Companies Fail at Execution and How to Get It Right*. Artel explains his "six C's" framework—Co‑creation, Clarity, Capacity, Communication, Coordination, and Coaching—as the essential steps for turning strategic ideas into real results, emphasizing that the hard work of building conditions for execution is often neglected. Drawing on his experience at Nike, Sur La Table, Tower Records and dozens of interviews across startups to Fortune‑500 firms, he shows that the gap between strategy and execution is universal and can be bridged by deliberate, structured processes like OKRs. The conversation also covers the role of external consultants and how even small teams need the same disciplined approach to avoid burnout and misalignment.