Let’s get real for a second (especially if you have a large team)
Every year, organizations spend more than $60 billion on strategic planning and leadership development. Yet McKinsey, Bain, and Harvard Business Review converge on a sobering truth: roughly 70–90% of strategies fail to achieve their intended outcomes. Not because the ideas are wrong, but because execution breaks down.
The evidence is overwhelming. A McKinsey Global Survey on strategy implementation found that only 27% of executives believe their organizations are good at translating strategy into action. A Bain & Company study showed that nearly two-thirds of companies struggle to coordinate across business units once execution begins. And even HBR reported that coordination failures—not funding or technology—are now the number-one reason transformation initiatives stall.
What’s fascinating is that most leaders still misdiagnose the issue. They call it a “change-management issue,” or a “lack of accountability.” But these are merely symptoms of a deeper dysfunction: a breakdown in the coordination of action—the invisible chain that turns intention into results.
Coordination is the choreography of execution. It’s how commitments are made, tracked, and recovered when they slip. It’s how leaders ensure that promises travel through the organisation without distortion. When this choreography collapses, even brilliant strategies implode under their own complexity.
It’s not your strategy or vision that’s failing. It’s your coordination of human behaviour and action (often also called execution)
You can have the smartest people, the boldest goals, and the most inspiring off-sites — and still, your execution limps. Deadlines slip. Priorities clash. You and your team are all busy and working hard, and yet progress seems slow or stalled.
Every leader knows this feeling. You start the quarter with momentum and clarity. But within weeks, the plan splinters into miscommunication, duplication, and “I thought you meant…” chaos.
That’s not incompetence. That’s a coordination breakdown.
What’s Missing in Most Companies Today
You’ve probably invested heavily in strategy sessions, leadership retreats, or workshops on emotional intelligence. Yet something vital is missing — the shared language and system for making and keeping commitments.
Most organisations run on what I call hope-based execution:
- “I’ll try.”
- “We should.”
- “It’s in progress.”
- “Almost done.”
Those phrases sound harmless — but they hide millions of euros in waste, delay, repeated work, and frustration.
The truth is that all results are produced through conversations. Yet most leaders have never learned how to have the right ones. That’s not a failure of our leaders. That’s a failure of our education system (but that’s a topic for another day).
The problem isn’t that people don’t care. It’s that they don’t know how to have the right conversations in a rhythm that drives action.
Work doesn’t just get done because people want to do it. It gets done when requests, promises, completions and incompletions are tracked, owned and closed.
The truth is: All work is coordination (of human behaviour). And all coordination happens through four simple conversations.
The Conversation for Coordination of Action
Every time something gets done, it follows this invisible loop — whether you realize it or not.
Let’s make it visible. It is the Conversation for Coordination of Action.
This framework—the Conversation for Coordination of Action—comes from decades of research in speech act theory, organizational linguistics, and commitment-based management. It was pioneered by Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores in their groundbreaking 1986 work on how language creates action, not just describes it.
The big insight? Coordination happens through explicit commitments, not assumptions.
There are four conversations in the conversation of coordination of action:
Conversation 1: Making a Clear Request or Offer (creating clarity from chaos)
What’s really happening: You’re creating a possibility out of thin air.
Every coordination of action starts with a request or an offer:
- Request: “Can you do X?” (you become the customer of the execution)
- Offer: “Can I do X?” (you become the performer of the execution)
Today you’re the customer. Tomorrow you’re the performer. The roles flip constantly – with each request or offer.
This step breaks down because Vague requests = vague results.
❌ “Can you handle this?”
❌ “Can we get this done soon?”
❌ “Let’s try to improve the deck”
These aren’t requests. They’re hopes wrapped in politeness.
Research on commitment-based management shows that unclear requests lead to what organizational psychologists call “fake agreement”—people say yes when they mean maybe, creating a trust debt that compounds over time.
Real-World Example
Broken:
“Hey, can you send me the Q4 data when you get a chance?”
Fixed:
“Can you send me the Q4 revenue data by Thursday at 3 PM? I need the breakdown by region, formatted as a CSV, so I can include it in Friday’s board presentation.”
Notice the difference:
- What (Q4 revenue data)
- When (Thursday, 3 PM)
- How (CSV, by region)
- Why (board presentation context)
The Power Move: The “Conditions of Satisfaction” Checklist
Before making any request, answer:
- What specifically do I need?
- By when do I need it?
- In what format or quality?
- Why does this matter? (Context helps people make smart trade-offs)
Specificity isn’t being demanding—it’s being clear. When you’re clear, you give people what they need to succeed.
A vague request is like ordering “something nice” at a restaurant. You’ll get something — but not what you want.
Conversation 2: Negotiation and Promise (creating commitments from wishes)
What’s really happening: You’re testing reality and building trust by creating trustworthy promises.
This is where most leaders chicken out. They make the request, and they want the other person just to say “yes” instead of making sure they get an unequivocal, trustworthy YES that they know they can count upon.
Each request has only four valid responses:
- Yes (I commit)
- No (I can’t/won’t)
- Counteroffer (I can do this instead)
- Commit to commit later (I need more info first)
All four are legitimate. All four are respectful. Anything else is a future disappointment waiting for you.
Why This Step Breaks Down
People say “yes” when they mean “maybe” or “no” because:
- They don’t want to disappoint you
- They’re afraid of looking incompetent
- Your culture punishes “no”
- They genuinely want to help, but haven’t thought through the reality
Research from organisational behaviour shows that most companies have chronic over-commitment, which leads to burnout, missed deadlines, and erosion of trust.
You can only get a trustworthy promise if people can actually negotiate on what they will do by when.
Real-World Example
Broken:
Manager: “Can you get this to me by Friday?”
Employee: “Sure!” (internally screaming)
Fixed:
Manager: “Can you get this to me by Friday at noon?”
Employee: “I’m already committed to the Martinez presentation Friday morning. I can get it to you by Monday at 10 AM, or I can get you a draft Friday afternoon—which works better?”
See what just happened? The employee:
- Acknowledged the request
- Explained the constraint
- Offered two alternatives
- Put the decision back in the manager’s court
That’s a real promise. Not a fake one.
The Power Move: The “Four Valid Responses” Script
When someone makes a request, train yourself (and your team) to respond with one of these:
- “Yes, I commit to [specific outcome] by [specific time].”
- “No, I can’t do that because [reason]. But here’s what I can do: [alternative].”
- “I need to check [X] before I can commit. Can I get back to you by [time]?”
- “I can do [modified version]. Does that work?”
The unlock: A “no” is a gift. It means someone respects you enough to tell the truth. If your culture punishes “no,” you’ve just bought yourself a factory of resentment and missed deadlines.
A “NO” is as much a promise as a “YES”. And your role as a leader is not to get YESes but to create trustworthy promises people can count upon – whether they are a YES or NO. A “no” is healthy. A “maybe” is poison.
The other person must have the space to say yes, no, or let’s renegotiate. When there’s a clear promise, trust is built. When there’s fake agreement, resentment brews.
If people can’t say NO to you, their YESes have no value.
Conversation 3: Execution and Declaration of Completion (creating satisfaction)
This is the most invisible breakdown. And it’s everywhere. Someone finishes the work but never declares it’s done. The result?
You’re sitting there waiting. Checking your inbox. Wondering if they forgot. Getting annoyed.
They think they’re a hero. You think they’re slacking. Both of you are wrong – you just didn’t close the loop.
Completion is a speech act. It doesn’t happen until someone says “It’s done.”
But here’s the thing: most people assume that doing the work is enough. It’s not.
Think about it like landing a plane. You don’t just descend and hope for the best. You announce it: “Touchdown. Wheels down.”
That declaration closes the loop. Without it, the loop stays open—and open loops drain trust faster than anything else in an organization.
Real-World Example
Broken:
Designer finishes the deck, saves it to Dropbox, goes to lunch. Manager is still waiting three hours later, thinking it’s not done yet.
Fixed:
Designer Slacks: “The Q4 deck is done and saved to Dropbox/Projects/Q4-Deck-Final.pptx. All feedback from yesterday’s meeting has been incorporated. Ready for your review.”
Three sentences. Five seconds. Loop closed.
The Power Move: The “Completion Declaration” Template
When you finish something, always include:
- “[Task] is complete.”
- “It’s located at [place/link].”
- “I addressed [key requirements from the original request].”
- Optional: “Next steps are [X], or let me know if you need anything else.”
The unlock: Declaring completion isn’t ego, it’s respect. You’re giving the other person certainty now so they can move forward.
Conversation 4: Assessment and Feedback (learning & closing the loop)
The last conversation is – the customer of the execution declares satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and everyone learns.
Without this last step, loops stay open. Misunderstandings multiply. In research on coordination frameworks, lack of this phase is a major barrier to cross-functional execution.
Without this step:
- You repeat the same mistakes
- Trust erodes silently
- People invent stories about what “good” looks like
- Resentment builds
A feedback loop is essential for learning. This is what organizational learning researchers call “double-loop learning”. You’re not just fixing the task, you’re improving the system.
But most leaders skip this step because it feels awkward, unnecessary, or confrontational. (read that again)
Wrong. It’s the most respectful thing you can do.
When you don’t give feedback, people:
- Assume you’re unhappy (and invent reasons why)
- Think they nailed it (and repeat the same mistakes)
- Guess what “good” looks like (and drift further from your expectations)
Research shows that feedback, regardless of content, positively influences performance, motivation, and task engagement. But here’s the catch: it has to actually happen. Teams just… never close the loop. And then wonder why coordination falls apart.
Real-World Example
Broken:
Manager reviews the deck, thinks “This is decent, but not quite what I wanted.” Says nothing. Designer thinks they crushed it. Next project, same issues. Slowly, resentment builds and leads to future coflict, “this has happened for the last 3 times” (though I never told you so).
Fixed:
Manager responds: “Thanks for getting this done on time. The data visualizations are clear and the flow works. For next time: I need more emphasis on the ‘why it matters’ section—that’s what the board cares about. The current version is 80% there. Can you add one slide that directly addresses ROI implications? That would make it complete.”
Notice:
- Acknowledged what worked
- Named what needs to change
- Made it specific
- Gave context (why it matters)
- Created a path forward
The Power Move: Acknowledge, Declare Satisfaction, and Make a Fresh Request (if reqd)
Here’s how to do it right:
- Acknowledge completion: “You delivered this on time—thank you.”
- Declare satisfaction level: “This meets 80% of what I needed” OR “This fully satisfies the request.”
- Name specifics: “The [X] part is great. The [Y] part needs [specific change].”
- Explain why: “We need [Y] because [context].”
- Confirm next steps: “Can you revise [Y] by [time]?” OR “We’re good to move forward.”
The unlock: Feedback isn’t criticism—it’s completion. Both “This nailed it” and “This missed the mark” are acts of respect. Silence is the real disrespect.
Now multiply this loop by hundreds of projects, meetings, and emails inside your company every week.
If your people don’t close these loops, you lose speed, trust, and energy. That’s why execution feels heavy – because thousands of promises are floating around unkept, unacknowledged, or untracked. Or worse, there are no promises – there are only plans, wishes, hopes, and expectations.
As I often share, Expectations are the cancer of collaboration.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Coordination
Poor coordination isn’t just an organisational headache. It hits hard — financially, culturally, emotionally.
- Wasted time & energy: If you’re chasing commitments, running after teams, and slotting in rescue meetings, you’re indirectly paying for all those unclosed loops.
- Burnout & bottlenecks: When leaders become the hub of every decision because no one else is coordinating, you become the chokepoint. That’s a leadership trap.
- Trust erosion: When people behave like “I’ll try” becomes the norm, you build a culture of maybe, delay, blame. According to research, when alignment is low ~68%, teams believe they’re not moving in the same direction. AchieveIt
- Strategy drift: You may have a great vision, but if execution spirals out of coordination control, you don’t just miss targets — you lose competitive position. “More than 70 % of strategic growth plans fail … because execution breaks down.” Strategy Ladders
If you run a €100 M business, even a 2-5 % drag from coordination breakdowns could mean millions in missed margin, customer churn, delayed launches, or wasted talent.
You can’t scale bold visions on vague agreements and open loops. Period.
When you master this conversation, you:
✅ Stop wondering why things aren’t happening (Because you made the invisible visible)
✅ Build a culture where people can say “no” without fear (Which paradoxically increases commitment)
✅ Create accountability that doesn’t feel like surveillance (Because it’s based on mutual promises, not control)
✅ Close loops so fast that momentum becomes your default state (Because nothing stays in limbo)
Why This Matters More in 2025
The world has shifted as remote teams, global functions, rapid tech change are the norm. In this environment:
- You need coordination across functions not just alignment within them. Research shows that cross-functional coordination (or lack thereof) is now the core challenge. infeedo.ai
- Visibility, accountability and speed matter more than ever. According to McKinsey, the healthiest organisations embed coordination and control and capability and motivation. McKinsey & Company
What Great Leaders Do Differently
Great leaders don’t try to do everything themselves. They install a culture of clean promises.
They train their teams to have these four conversations consciously and explicitly. They build what I call coordination muscle — the ability to move fast without confusion.
They stop saying: “Who’s on this?”
and start saying: “Who’s making a promise here, and when will it be complete?”
They don’t confuse motion with progress. They don’t reward “effort” – they reward closed loops (results).
A Simple Example
Let’s say your CMO asks the sales head: “Can you send me your input on the Q2 campaign soon?” That’s a weak request.
A strong one sounds like:
“Can you send your input on the Q2 campaign by Wednesday 5pm so we can finalize the copy on Thursday morning?”
Now the performer can negotiate:
“Wednesday’s tough, but I can send it Thursday morning at 8am.”
That’s a clear promise. When it’s done, they declare completion.
The CMO reviews and says, “Yes, this works,” or “Let’s tweak section two.”
That’s a clean coordination loop.
Now imagine 10,000 of those running in your company every week — clean, explicit, complete. That’s not just communication. That’s velocity. That’s the momentum you have been waiting for.
NASA & Apollo Missions Example
During the Apollo missions, NASA engineers lived by one simple rhythm: Request. Confirm. Execute. Verify. No vague “ASAPs,” no half-yeses. Every instruction was a clear commitment, every step was verified out loud. That discipline, not technology, is what put humans on the moon with computers weaker than your phone. The secret wasn’t genius; it was coordination done right.
From Strategy to Execution: The Missing Bridge
Most strategies fail not because they’re wrong. They fail because they die in the space between intention and execution.
Leaders often think their job is to design the “what” and “why.” But the real test of leadership is creating and coordinating the chain of commitment conversations that make results that add value inevitable – and not just effort and time spent.
Your job isn’t to have more meetings. It’s to coordinate human action. And you do that through the conversation for the coordination of action.
This is how high-performing organisations work — not through charisma or chaos, but through clarity and closure.
The Opportunity in Front of You
If you can master this and teach your team to make, keep, and close promises cleanly — everything changes.
- Execution accelerates.
- Burnout drops.
- Trust compounds.
- Strategy turns into results.
- You are free to zoom out and think bigger while your team executes on the weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
Your company becomes a place where people do what they say and say what they’ll do.
That’s not control. That’s coordination with integrity.
And that, more than any new strategy, is what will separate your company from the rest.
MIT’s Sloan Management Review calls coordination “the missing muscle in modern leadership.” It’s rarely taught, often assumed, and almost always under-practiced. Yet it determines whether strategies live or die in the real world.
The uncomfortable truth? Most leaders don’t have a coordination blind spot. And until that’s addressed, every new strategy is just another expensive rehearsal for failure.
In Simple Words
You don’t need another meeting or more time. You need better conversations. Half the talk, double the promises.
Not more talk — but conversations that coordinate action. Conversations that build trust. Conversations that close loops.