Execution is the act of ...

"The common perception is that strategy is done at the top of the org chart, and execution is done below. It is exactly the opposite – let me explain why.
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Usually when businesspeople talk about “strategy” and “execution,” the former is the act of making choices and the latter the act of obeying them. My quibble with this characterization is that the things that happen in the activity called “strategy” and the activity called “execution” are identical: people are making choices about what to do and what not to do.
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No matter where you are in the organization, the choices are the same: they are all where to play/how to win strategy choices.
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And that is why I describe leadership in this layered choice cascade as follows:
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Make only the set of choices you are more capable of making than anyone else.
Explain the choice that has been made and the reasoning behind it.
Explicitly identify the next downstream choice.
Assist in making the downstream choice, as needed.
Commit to revisit and modify the choice based on downstream feedback.
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Strategy is the act of making choices about “where to play” and “how to win” across the various levels and parts of the organization. Execution is the act of parsing out responsibility for those choices, making sure people actually choose (instead of waffling around in indecision).
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This reverses the normal implied responsibilities. While the traditional definitions hold that strategy is done at the top and execution is done below, in this alternative, more useful definition, strategy choices are made throughout the organization and the responsibility for execution lies at the top."

Trechos retirados de "CEOs Should Stop Thinking that Execution is Somebody Else’s Job; It Is Theirs"