Mintzberg, H. 1994. The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning.
Strategic planning is not strategic thinking
The most successful strategies are visions, not plans
The process of strategy-making
o Capturing what the manager learns from all sources (personal experiences, others
experiences, hard data)
o Synthesizing the learning
o Visualizing the direction that the business should pursue
Planners should make their contribution around the strategy-making process rather than inside it
Strategic planning is about analysis
o Breaking down a goal or a set of intentions into steps, formalizing those steps so that they can
be implemented almost automatically, and articulating the anticipated consequences or results
of each step
Strategic thinking is about synthesis
o It involves intuition and creativity
o It produces an integrated perspective of the enterprise and a not too well formulated vision of
direction
o It can’t be developed on schedule and immaculately conceived
Strategic planning has never amounted to strategic thinking, but it has often impeded it
Downfalls of planning
o Planning represents a calculating style of management and not a committing style
Managers with a committing style engage people, taking into account their
preferences
o Because analysis encompasses synthesis, strategic planning is strategy making
Three fallacious assumptions
The fallacy of prediction – the world is supposed to hold still while a plan is
being developed and then stay on the predicted course while that plan is
being implemented
The fallacy of detachment – managers who rely on formalized information,
such as market research reports or accounting statements in business and
opinion polls in government, tend to be detached in more ways. However, the
most effective managers rely on soft information, such as gossip, hearsay,
and various other scraps of information.
The fallacy of formalization – the failure of strategic planning is the failure
of systems to do better than, or nearly as well as, human beings. Formal
systems can process more information, however they can’t internalize it,
comprehend it, and synthesize it.
Planners and managers have different advantages
o Planners lack managers authority to make commitments and managers access to soft
information
o Managers tend to favor action over reflection and the oral over the written, which can cause
them to overlook important analytical information
o Planners have time and the inclination to analyze
Planning can’t generate strategies, but it can program them and make them operational
Strategic programming involves three steps
o Codification
Strategic planning is not strategic thinking
The most successful strategies are visions, not plans
The process of strategy-making
o Capturing what the manager learns from all sources (personal experiences, others
experiences, hard data)
o Synthesizing the learning
o Visualizing the direction that the business should pursue
Planners should make their contribution around the strategy-making process rather than inside it
Strategic planning is about analysis
o Breaking down a goal or a set of intentions into steps, formalizing those steps so that they can
be implemented almost automatically, and articulating the anticipated consequences or results
of each step
Strategic thinking is about synthesis
o It involves intuition and creativity
o It produces an integrated perspective of the enterprise and a not too well formulated vision of
direction
o It can’t be developed on schedule and immaculately conceived
Strategic planning has never amounted to strategic thinking, but it has often impeded it
Downfalls of planning
o Planning represents a calculating style of management and not a committing style
Managers with a committing style engage people, taking into account their
preferences
o Because analysis encompasses synthesis, strategic planning is strategy making
Three fallacious assumptions
The fallacy of prediction – the world is supposed to hold still while a plan is
being developed and then stay on the predicted course while that plan is
being implemented
The fallacy of detachment – managers who rely on formalized information,
such as market research reports or accounting statements in business and
opinion polls in government, tend to be detached in more ways. However, the
most effective managers rely on soft information, such as gossip, hearsay,
and various other scraps of information.
The fallacy of formalization – the failure of strategic planning is the failure
of systems to do better than, or nearly as well as, human beings. Formal
systems can process more information, however they can’t internalize it,
comprehend it, and synthesize it.
Planners and managers have different advantages
o Planners lack managers authority to make commitments and managers access to soft
information
o Managers tend to favor action over reflection and the oral over the written, which can cause
them to overlook important analytical information
o Planners have time and the inclination to analyze
Planning can’t generate strategies, but it can program them and make them operational
Strategic programming involves three steps
o Codification
