When your team believes in the work but not the strategy

I once worked with a team that was producing remarkable results - deadlines met, customers satisfied, and quality well above the industry average. And yet, behind the scenes, a quiet skepticism was growing. They believed deeply in what they were building, but not in why leadership had asked them to build it that way. I’ve come to believe that one of the most overlooked challenges in strategy execution is not disengagement - it’s misalignment between belief in the work and belief in the direction. That gap is easy to ignore, especially when output looks strong. But if left unaddressed, it eventually drags everything down.