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Recently I was asked by one of our Global clients to advise on a few issues they were facing. These were seemingly unrelated issues, across a number of their Divisions, to do with launching new products, product branding, sales engagement, go to market strategy etc. In all of these areas they have problems, and I was asked why.

When I boiled it all down there was really only one issue - they failed to act or or failed to act decisively. And this failure results in a continuing inability to act adroitly, or to work in concert with authority and determination to deliver with impact.

They were happy with my analysis of the issue, but were surprised when I went on to explain the cause. To my eyes it was clear that they have a culture that cherishes expertise over execution. They have lots of senior people who are great and innovative thinkers but they don't have enough people to turn those thoughts into deeds, into products, into sales.

Worse still, as their Experts are so senior and well paid, they expect their Experts to Execute. This will never happen. Ask an expert if he has finished his work, and the answer will be no. He won't see the genius of what has been created, only its faults that need to be improved in the next version. Ask an Expert if he is ready to go to market, and the answer is no, because he is working on the next version. Ask an expert to help create the go to market messages and either he'll be too busy or he'll bore you with detail. Ask an Expert why his sales are low, and its always because the sales team lack enough skills to sell.

One thing that experts do well (I know I am generalising) is debate. They like a debate, its intellectually stimulating and shows them off in an area of strength. But debates can be endless. And endless debates have no place in business. For a frustrated marketing manager/product manager/sales manager, who needs to get their product on the shelves and selling,  debates are just a tool to create output. There must be an end product.

Business history is littered with stories of great ideas that never got to market, or innovators crushed by more adroit imitators. I have no doubt that Innocenzo Manzetti was a genius of his day, but he didn't have genius enough to take the telephone from his labs and turn it into a product. Alexander Bell did (have the genius to take the telephone from the labs of Manzetti and turn it into a product), and he's famous for it.

What counts is not how great your ideas are, its how well you get what you've got to market. That's why, on balance, I have always valued Execution over Expertise