This is what happens when you stop jumping from one idea to another
Strategy is one of the most boring and fascinating subjects at the same time. And that is precisely why it works.
Strategy making doesn’t just mean having bright ideas. It means staying focused for a long time, doing enough work to gather numerical evidence that the strategy is working.
Many strategies fail not because they are wrong, but because they are not executed sufficiently. Boredom takes over, and teams change paths before they get meaningful data. They jump from one tactic to another, deluding themselves that they are evolving, when in fact they are just distracting themselves-they are doing it to prove they are on the move, to make noise, to justify their cost.
If you can’t replicate it, it’s not strategy: it’s luck.
Many teams mistake hyperactivity for speed of execution: they jump from project to project convinced they are experimenting, when in fact they are just avoiding the drudgery of design rigor. But experimenting is not doing as much. It is doing better. It means testing a few things, chosen well, methodically, consistently and measurably.
There is a profound difference between an experience and an experiment.
An experience happens once: you can recount it, remember it, even celebrate it. But if you cannot replicate it, then the results it generated are the result of chance, not a system.
An experiment, on the other hand, is built to be repeated, to generate measurable results under similar conditions. If a campaign works but you can’t do it again with the same effects, that’s not strategy: it’s luck. Strategy, on the other hand, requires replicability. It requires discipline.
Most importantly: it requires a willingness to stay in the work long enough to really understand it.
Staying focused on a few activities, with intentionality, is what turns a team into a strategic execution machine. Repetition reduces cognitive load, increases competence and brings out clear patterns in work, which can be observed, optimized and even engineered.
Four scientific reasons to love boredom
I have collected some research that examines the effect of repetition in daily work. When approached with the right attitude, repetitive activities can enhance motivation, confidence and a sense of competence. Here are the most striking results:
1. The brain is a sadist: the more you toil, the more it likes it.
Imagine a team of scientists asking, “Can we really teach the brain to love mental fatigue?”
In 2022, Clay and colleagues conducted a series of experiments involving more than 1,500 people. Participants had to solve memory and attention exercises while the researchers monitored physiological parameters related to mental effort, such as heart rate. Some were rewarded only if they performed well on the task. Others, however, received a reward simply for trying hard, regardless of the outcome. Over time, the very latter began to spontaneously choose more difficult exercises. And when the rewards disappeared, they continued to do so. Hard work, rewarded in the right way, had changed their motivation.
The crux of the experiment lay in how the reward was administered. One group received an award only if they completed the task correctly. The other group only needed to put in consistent effort: recognition came even if the end result was not perfect. In other words, the process was rewarded, not just the outcome. This simple variation triggered a profound change in participants’ behavior.
The result: those who are rewarded for effort begin to choose more and more difficult tasks, even when the reward is gone. It is as if they have developed a genuine taste for challenge.
The brain, once trained to find meaning in exertion, begins to seek it out. Just like a muscle, it responds to exercise. And once the mechanism is triggered, it becomes difficult to stop it.
Inside MAKE PROGRESS®
In MAKE PROGRESS®, this principle is not a side note: it is the very heart of the method. Each phase is built to train mental endurance, the kind of quiet strength that keeps you going even when you don’t yet see the fruits. This is where strategic work changes nature: it stops being an exercise in willpower and becomes a habit of growth.
Repetition is never an end in itself. Each cycle is provides numerical indicators, moments of reflection, feedback that mirror reality. This is how daily challenges become sexy again.
2. The problem is not the challenge. It is what you think it says about you.
In the 1980s, Carol Dweck studied how children and students reacted to failure during increasingly difficult school tasks. Some were quickly discouraged, avoided more complex problems, and sought shortcuts. Others, however, seemed almost intrigued by the difficulty: they smiled, tried again, stayed engaged.
What made them so different? The way they interpreted the effort.
Dweck found that those who believed they could improve through commitment, what we now call a growth mindset, showed greater resilience, curiosity and ability to learn over time. In contrast, those who tied their self-esteem to immediate success tended to avoid challenges for fear of failure.
A small change in mentality, in short, produced large differences in behavior.
People who believe they can improve with effort face difficulties differently: they become less discouraged, stay in the problem longer, and learn more over time.
Carol Dweck demonstrated this by observing two types of students: those who see challenges as opportunities to grow and those who avoid them for fear of failure. The former are more persistent, more involved and learn more over time. The secret is not innate skill, but confidence in being able to improve.
Inside MAKE PROGRESS®
OKRs, in the MAKE PROGRESS® method, are not just KPIs with a new name. They are true miniature research and development laboratories: spaces where each objective becomes an opportunity to test, observe and learn. Each OKR cycle is an experiment with hypotheses, data and moments for reflection.
They help teams stay in the hard work even when initial enthusiasm wanes. They enable them to traverse uncertainty with rigor and turn repetition into measurable improvement.
At MAKE PROGRESS every review is built to generate learning, not judgment about people’s work. Error is treated as a natural part of the process: a useful signal, not a failure.
The whole method is designed to help people stay in the difficulty long enough to build confidence, and from there turn it into solid competence.
3. Watching an expert at work is like getting a self-esteem boost.
Imagine watching a chef cooking a complicated dish with disarming simplicity. Or an athlete performing a perfect technical gesture as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Have you ever felt inspired just by watching?
This is precisely what Scopelliti and his research team wanted to investigate: what happens in our minds when we witness someone who can do something difficult very well?
In their experiment, they had a group of people observe skill demonstrations by experts in various contexts. And the results were far from trivial:
- Watching experts at work increased spectators’ confidence in their own abilities.
- People felt more competent, even though they had not yet tried it themselves.
- Everyday activities, seen through the hands of a master, became more fascinating, more aspirational.
Basically, we don’t just learn by doing. We also learn by observing. And not just how to do something: we learn to believe that we can do it.
Watching an expert in action is like receiving a credible preview of our potential. A well-done demonstration creates a bridge between where we are today and where we might be tomorrow.
That’s why direct observation, mentorship, or even just a demo done right, are very powerful tools for growth. They don’t just teach techniques. They ignite beliefs.
Inside MAKE PROGRESS®
This is exactly why we created the practitioner communty of MAKE PROGRESS.
We never start with theory or slides but by showing the method in action: how to really facilitate an SFO building session, how to build the North Star Framework, how to conduct a Check-in meeting that energizes instead of boring.
Watching a qualified coach orchestrate a strategy session, seeing how he handles objections, how he brings out shared priorities, how he turns chaotic discussions into clear decisions-has an immediate effect on the perception of feasibility. Suddenly what seemed “too complicated for my company” becomes “I can do it too.”
It is the difference between reading a book about OKRs and seeing someone implement them live. Between knowing in theory what strategic alignment is and witnessing the moment when a team goes from confusion to clarity in 90 minutes.
That is why every qualified Progress Coach not only knows the method, but also knows how to show it. Because strategic competence is transmitted first through observation, then through practice. And when your team sees that strategy can be managed with the same precision as a production process, they begin to believe that they too can master it.
4. Autopilot is dangerous.
Imagine learning something so well that you can do it without even thinking about it. Great, isn’t it? Yet researchers Langer and Imber have made a startling discovery that challenges this idea. Here’s what they found.
They wondered: what happens when we practice a task so much that it becomes completely automatic? Is it really always an advantage to achieve this level of mastery? (Langer and Imber, 1979)
Langer and Imber’s experiment was built to understand how we react when we become “very good” at a task to the point that we do it automatically.
Here’s how it worked, in simple words:
- Participants had to learn a simple task, such as following a repetitive procedure.
- Some learned it just the minimum, others a little better, and still others repeated it so many times that they did it with their eyes closed-this is overlearning.
- Then they were put in different social conditions: some were told they were the “boss,” others were told they were “assistants,” and still others received no labels.
- Finally, they would test them with small stressors, such as an unexpected question or a context that undermined their confidence.
The result?
- People who had practiced up to automaticity were more vulnerable to drops in performance
- In particular, if their competence was questioned or they received a negative label, their performance collapsed
- But there is one crucial detail: those who remained aware of the steps of the task, even if they knew them by heart, were able to maintain good performance even under pressure
Why is it important?
Think about when you’re driving: you do it automatically, but by taking the same route over and over again, you run the risk of not noticing changes or unexpected events. Langer and Imber have shown that staying mentally present in what you do is essential to maintaining performance over time.
The solution is to keep the components of the task “visible,” that is, not to take anything for granted, even when you are very experienced. For example, follow a checlist to actively think about the next actions.
This research changes the way we think about practice and mastery: it is not enough how much you practice, it matters how involved you stay while doing it. True mastery is not doing automatically, but staying aware even when the act becomes familiar.
Inside MAKE PROGRESS®
It happens in all companies: you implement OKRs, you go through the first few cycles with enthusiasm, and then…slide. Meetings become nonsensical rituals, updates turn into bureaucratic reports, Key Results lose their connection to real strategy. The team executes the right moves, but with no more awareness of why, or worse yet, instrumentalizes them.
It is what Langer and Imber’s research called “mindlessness”: when excessive practice without conscious attention makes one vulnerable to the first doubt about one’s competence.
That’s why every company that is serious about strategy needs Strategy Ops: professionals dedicated to keeping the strategic conversation alive by managing all the technicality of the method. It’s not the CEO who has to remember to update dashboards, facilitate check-ins, or monitor alignment between teams. It is the Strategy Ops.
While management focuses on strategic decisions, Strategy Ops deals with the strategic infrastructure. It keeps systems working, conversations focused, processes flowing. It is the difference between having a strategy on paper and having it alive in the organization.
That’s why MAKE PROGRESS® trains qualified coaches who become true Strategy Ops: they can not only facilitate, but also orchestrate all the technical elements that keep strategy moving. Autopilot kills strategy. Strategy Ops keeps it conscious, cycle after cycle.
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Sources
- Source: Clay et al., 2022 – “Effort-based assessment and neurophysiology,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Link
- Source: Dweck, C. S. – “Motivational processes affecting learning” (1986) Link
- Source: Scopelliti et al., 2013 – “Vicarious Control: Exposure to Mastery and the Perceived Controllability of Events” Link
