The second drawback is that the stage-gate system assumes that the pro-posed strategy is the right strategy. Once an innovation has been approved, developed, and launched, all that remains is skillful execution. If, after launch, a product falls seriously short of the projections (and 75% of them do), it is canceled. The problem is that, except in the case of incremental innovations, the right strategy—especially which job the customer wants done—cannot be completely known in advance. It must merge and then be refined.