Despite the importance of strategic planning in business, most executives fear this process because they think failure will ruin their career. As a result, they construct a time-consuming comprehensive plan to govern the business’ activities. Unfortunately, this approach is the wrong way to go about it.

Fear is a natural response to strategy but the fact is, true strategy will require you to take risks and is a result of coming up with realistic business solutions. A plan in which you can ‘guarantee’ the outcome, more than likely means you’re ‘trapped’ in your comfort zone where no risks or hard choices have to be made.

Strategists should realize that there will not be “perfection”, plans should be simple and specific so they can be implemented. The focus should be on the true revenue decision makers – customers – and not falling in love with the ideas themselves.

Source: HBR, Big Lie of Strategic Planning, 2014 Jan-Feb   http://hbr.org/2014/01/the-big-lie-of-strategic-planning/ar/1