HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeLeadershipback to Research & KnowledgeToo many projectsback to Leadership

Video

Too many projects

4 min.

May 2019

If “the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do,” as Michael Porter famously said in a seminal HBR article, then the essence of execution is truly not doing it. That sounds simple, but it’s surprisingly hard for organizations to kill existing initiatives, even when they don’t align with new strategies. Instead, leaders keep layering on initiatives, which can lead to severe overload at levels below the executive team.

IMD Professor Michael D. Watkins, along with Rose Hollister, recently carried out research for the article, Too Many Projects. Their research indicated the seven causes of initiative overload, as well as provided a step-by-step process to guide leaders.

In this new IMD Research and Knowledge video series, IMD faculty explore the surprising results from recently-published influential, research-based articles, and spell out the main learning points for business leaders.

If you think your organization is taking on too many initiatives and suffering as a result, you are almost certainly right.

Watch the video and find out what you can do about it.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Keep reading

Article

Are you embracing your inner founder?

HubSpot-style insight on AI leadership: Embrace your inner founder to achieve operational clarity, dynamic direction, and reimagined teams that leverage AI.

Decision Making Entrepreneurship Leadership

By I by IMD

in I by IMD

Article

How to build courage at work, one step at a time

Learn how small, everyday acts build courage at work, helping people speak up, take action, and create meaningful organizational change

Leadership

By Jim R. Detert

in I by IMD

Article

Sunrise CHRO outlines how HR can show its business worth - IbyIMD

Sunrise demonstrates how HR metrics map to business goals, boosting loyalty and performance through clear ownership and cross‑functional collaboration.

Human Resources Leadership Strategy

By I by IMD

in I by IMD

Article

Lead when you’re not the expert: Turn team doubts into trust

Part 2: Team doubts - learn diagnostics to pinpoint sources, build trust, and enlist supporters for stronger, shared leadership.

Coaching Leadership Stakeholder Management Team

By Francesca-Giulia Mereu

in I by IMD

Case Study

Zamil Group: Growing a family business into a diversified holding

Family Business Corporate Governance Business Transformation Leadership

By Peter Vogel and Anouk Lavoie

Article

Exploring deglobalization effects on global innovation ecosystems, and the role of cosmo-localism

Over the past years profound changes in the public sentiment and policy environment suggest the beginning of a new era with reversal attitudes towards globalization. Deglobalization which is commonly defined as the process of decreasing interdepen...

Global Business

By Ioanna Stylianou, Michael Christofi, Karolina Sallaku and Alfredo De Massis

in Technovation

August 2026, vol. 156, 103640, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2026.103640

Article

Learn to trust the team – as well as the process

Explore how trust anchors effective coaching, guiding leaders from micromanagement to collaborative leadership that unlocks sustained performance.

Coaching Culture Leadership Team

By Graham Clark

in I by IMD

Article

Are you a corporate shock absorber?

Are you acting as a corporate shock absorber? Learn how middle managers can stop absorbing organizational friction and frame it as business risk.

Culture Leadership Strategy Work-life Balance

By Robert Vilkelis

in I by IMD

Article

Are you a corporate shock absorber?

Middle managers shield teams from brutal leadership. Learn to stop buffering, translate conflict, and steer strategy with clear trade-offs.

Leadership Strategy

By Robert Vilkelis

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

30 July 2026

Article

Developing leadership talent: build attitude first

Learn why developing leadership talent starts with attitude, resilience and curiosity, not technical skills alone, and how leaders build stronger teams.

Leadership

By Richard Roi and Luca Condosta

in I by IMD

Are you embracing your inner founder?

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

HubSpot-style insight on AI leadership: Embrace your inner founder to achieve operational clarity, dynamic direction, and reimagined teams that leverage AI.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Decision Making

Entrepreneurship

Leadership

Browse all topics

Sunrise CHRO outlines how HR can show its business worth - IbyIMD

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

Sunrise demonstrates how HR metrics map to business goals, boosting loyalty and performance through clear ownership and cross‑functional collaboration.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Human Resources

Leadership

Strategy

Browse all topics

Lead when you’re not the expert: Turn team doubts into trust

By Francesca-Giulia Mereu
in I by IMD

Summary

Part 2: Team doubts - learn diagnostics to pinpoint sources, build trust, and enlist supporters for stronger, shared leadership.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Coaching

Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Team

Browse all topics

Zamil Group: Growing a family business into a diversified holding

By Peter Vogel and Anouk Lavoie
Case reference: IMD-2751 ©2026

Summary

Founded in 1920 as a modest trading house in the Arabian Gulf, Zamil Group has grown into one of the Middle East's most diversified business groups, with activities spanning manufacturing, petrochemicals, real estate and investments. As the portfolio expanded and some operating companies were listed or divested, the family gradually shifted from a family‑managed operating conglomerate toward a financial holding model. This strategic transition fundamentally reshaped the family's role – from hands‑on operators to long‑term owners and stewards of a diversified portfolio. At the heart of the case is the question of how enterprising families define success. Rather than equating success solely with financial performance or the preservation of specific legacy assets, the AlZamil family articulates a broader, multi‑dimensional conception of success that includes long‑term continuity, professionalization, societal contribution and the preparation of future generations. The case explores how this definition of success informs key governance choices, such as stricter family employment policies, the increasing reliance on non‑family executives, and the creation of a family office dedicated to wealth management and next generation development. The case also surfaces an important tension faced by many long‑lived family firms: whether selling a founding or symbolic business should be viewed as a failure or a responsible act of stewardship. By presenting the sale of the AlZamils' legacy business, the case invites participants to contrast a heritage‑preservation logic with a stewardship‑and‑portfolio logic and to reflect on how different families reconcile emotional attachment with long‑term adaptability. The case is based on interviews with four family members holding leading roles in the AlZamil family enterprise system.

Reference IMD-2751

Organization Zamil Group

Industry Manufacturing

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Corporate Governance

Business Transformation

Leadership

Browse all topics

Exploring deglobalization effects on global innovation ecosystems, and the role of cosmo-localism

By Ioanna Stylianou Michael Christofi Karolina Sallaku and Alfredo De Massis
in Technovation August 2026, vol. 156, 103640, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2026.103640

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Global Business

Browse all topics

Learn to trust the team – as well as the process

By Graham Clark
in I by IMD

Summary

Explore how trust anchors effective coaching, guiding leaders from micromanagement to collaborative leadership that unlocks sustained performance.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Coaching

Culture

Leadership

Team

Browse all topics

Are you a corporate shock absorber?

By Robert Vilkelis
in I by IMD

Summary

Are you acting as a corporate shock absorber? Learn how middle managers can stop absorbing organizational friction and frame it as business risk.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Culture

Leadership

Strategy

Work-life Balance

Browse all topics

Are you a corporate shock absorber?

By Robert Vilkelis
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 30 July 2026

Summary

Middle managers shield teams from brutal leadership. Learn to stop buffering, translate conflict, and steer strategy with clear trade-offs.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Leadership

Strategy

Browse all topics