First, you need the right strategy. Less than perfect execution against the right strategy will probably work. A 100% execution against the wrong strategy won’t. The next thing is getting the right people. And at scale, you have no choice but to instrument the business. It was different at eBay. I was the 30th employee, and by the end I had an instinct—I could almost feel what was wrong with the business. I could have a couple of conversations, look at some high-level numbers, and I’d know. But at HP you have to have a plan, and you have to measure that plan. You don’t get what you expect; you get what you inspect. At scale, you can’t just feel it; you have to have the metrics. We monitor everything, so the minute something goes off track, we know.

https://hbr.org/2016/05/we-need-to-intensify-our-sense-of-urgency