To stay ahead of the pack‎,‎ you must translate your organization‎'‎s competitive strategy into day‎-to‎-day actions that will enable your company to win in the marketplace‎.‎ This means channeling resources into the right efforts‎,‎ striking a balance between innovation and control‎,‎ and getting everyone pulling in the same direction‎.‎ How to accomplish all this‎?‎ Continually ask the right questions‎,‎ advises Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons‎.‎ By posing these provocative questions‎,‎ you identify critical gaps in your strategy execution processes‎,‎ focus on the most important choices you must make‎,‎ and understand what‎'‎s at stake in each one‎.‎ In this concise guide‎,‎ Simons presents the seven key questions you and your team must regularly explore together‎:‎ *Who is your primary customer‎?‎ Have you organized your company to deliver maximum value to that customer‎?‎ *How do your core values prioritize shareholders‎,‎ employees‎,‎ and customers‎?‎ Is everyone in your company committed to those values‎?‎ *What critical performance variables are you tracking‎?‎ How are you creating accountability for performance on those variables‎?‎ *What strategic boundaries have you set‎?‎ Does everyone know what actions are off‎-limits‎?‎ *How are you generating creative tension‎?‎ Is that tension catalyzing innovation across units‎?‎ *How committed are your employees to helping each other‎?‎ Are they sharing responsibility for your company‎'‎s success‎?‎ *What strategic uncertainties keep you awake at night‎?‎ How are you riveting everyone‎'‎s attention on those uncertainties‎?‎ These questions force you to reexamine the unspoken assumptions underlying your strategy and analyze how it‎'‎s implemented through your business processes and structures‎.‎ Simons‎'‎ extensive examples then help you understand your options and make the tough choices needed for your company to excel at execution‎.‎ Drawing on decades of research into performance management systems and organization design‎,‎ Seven Strategy Questions is a no‎-nonsense‎,‎ must‎-read resource for all leaders in your organization‎.‎