Importance of Strategic Planning

What is the importance of Strategic Planning? Well there are at least two ancient sages that say that and they are Sun Tzu and Han Fei Zi.

In conclusion, those who have considered more details during planning and assessment in the temple will win while those who have considered fewer details will lose. The more details considered, the higher the chances of winning and vice versa. How much more certain is defeat if no planning is done at all? By observing the planning and assessment process, I am able to see whether victory or defeat is expected. - Sun Tzu Art of War, Chapter 1

Strategy, it decides between success and failures, thus its assessment is of utmost importance. - Han Fei Zi, Chapter 2

Well I can guess most of you would have said: "Of course I know strategy is important. Its obvious". Wait don't go away yet. You know strategy is important, so are you achieving your dreams, or in the process of achieving your dreams? If you are, think about how much planning have you done for the your strategy to achieve your dreams. I am quite sure there is a handful of you out there who only manage to sit down for 1hr (hopefully this is an underestimate) to do the planning and research. I know because I also tend to do that. The reason is because we find it quite 'painful' to do it especially when we know circumstances change and we might have to change or even scrap the strategy, thus finding it a waste of time.

But let me assure you, beside the importance of strategic planning, during your planning and assessment, you can learn a lot of things on the way which will cut down your learning curve in the future. So do make it a habit of planning your strategy and also assessing its effectiveness maybe once a week. Learn how to set goals and execute your strategy well. All the best in achieving your dreams!

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