Charitably, I think "easy" is the wrong word here. I think Fred meant something like, "get the strategy right and the execution is straightforward hard work."

Still, if "strategy" is "deciding what to do" and "execution" is "doing what you decided to do," then Fred's statement is almost tautological; there's nothing left for execution but "straightforward hard work" once you've drained out all the decision-making.

On the other hand, if we say "strategy" is only decision-making at the highest level, then I don't think execution is just straightforward hard work; there's logistics and tactics, too, which are critical.

Think of the dead companies with the right strategy who spent too much money, or who bet on the wrong technology platform, or who couldn't marshal a top-tier sales organization.