Any good general knows that a plan for a mission is valid until you meet your first enemy.
But this is not to say we don’t do any planning. It is still important to do planning but vision & strategy become critical in an always-changing world.
A good vision is one which is clear and simple. It leaving no room for doubt or interpretion and have buy-in from everyone in the organization. Plans may change but the vision must not.
A good strategy is one that explains the “WHAT” and does not specify the “HOW”. It is not a “howto” guide for someone who is lost. Instead, that person should be able to ask himself “what should I do that is inline with the strategy?” and able to make his own decision (aka “empowerment”).
With a good vision & strategy, what you also need is the best people or a “A player”. Jack Welch defines an A player by 4E: Energy to do work, ability to Energize others, Edge to make critical decision and lastly, ability to Execute.
So really, good management is really as simple as 1,2,3: (1) set a simple vision and articulate the strategy (2) hire the best people and (3) and leave your best people alone to do the job. ^_^
