“We just have to get this strategy right.”

Sound familiar? You’ve probably heard it before. Maybe you’ve even said it before. 

Sadly, I’ve got some news for you: It’s a lie. And it’s a lie that’s shaping how companies—complex, well-resourced ones and scrappy startups alike—think about performance. 

I spend a lot of time in organizations. I see leaders growing and pushing, bringing in consultants, investing in new tools, hiring capable people. 

But I also see teams getting stuck at every turn, fighting against a current that just doesn’t seem to want to go their way. All their wins are served with a side of burnout. 😮‍💨

Here’s August’s take: Three seductive lies about performance are holding companies back. 

We wrote Teams That Meet The Moment to break down the lies we love and introduce daily practices that actually work. 

Even though the book won’t be hitting shelves until May, the August pals and I figured: why wait? Let’s crack open the playbook now. 

So here’s Lie #1. It’s attractive. It’s common. But it also wastes time, resources, and talent…

Lie #1: We Just Need a Better Strategy to Win

As you’re no doubt painfully aware, companies pour millions into strategy consulting to chase the perfect plan. 

Consultants arrive, armed with elegant frameworks and confident assurances. They craft hundred-page decks, packed with finely tuned mandates and market insights, that land on your desk with a resounding thud. 

“Follow this to the letter,” they say, “and you’ll flatten the competition.”

And yet, somehow, those massive, expensive decks rarely translate into real results.

Because here’s the truth: Even the most brilliant strategy is worthless if your teams can’t bring it to life. 

PowerPoint doesn’t build momentum. Execution does. And execution lives in the messy, unpredictable reality of teams working together, where competing priorities, shifting demands, and real human dynamics can turn even the best-laid plans into a slow-motion train wreck.

Strategy matters. But without teams who can actually bring it to life, it’s just another expensive document gathering dust.

So, why does this lie persist? Because it’s much easier to buy a shiny strategy than it is to do the messy, intimate work of transforming how we team together. 

But it’s that messy work that will get you where you want to be.

Next week, we’ll take a look at Lie #2. And in just a few months, Teams That Meet The Moment will help you ditch these outdated ideas and approach work in a new, better way. 📗

Karina Mangu-Ward

Partner, August Public 

P.S. If you’ve been in an organization where you’ve seen this lie in action (as I’m sure many of you have), I’d love to hear your story…feel free to reply to this email!