You cannot possibly have enough insight yet to craft a detailed plan or an in-depth strategy. But you should certainly have a clear idea of what you believe, the key issues that you are going to be focusing on, and some form of organizing framework for the key actions you will want to take.

With his approach, there was a constructive, always-moving-forward element to this discussion, with no looking back. So the headset was, we had to figure this out, we had to go forward, and it didn’t matter who had put the plan before.” - Jim McNerney.

Finding the right balance between creating a compelling picture of where you plan to lead the organization and not becoming prematurely locked into a plan of action is one of the most important ways to make the most of your first hundred days. Think not about developing your strategic plan but about crafting your strategic agenda.

In broad terms, my management philosophy is to keep things simple. I want rigorous analysis and thoughtful assessments, but I do not want complexity. If strategies and plans aren’t easily understood by everyone, they will be acted on by no one. So by keeping things simple, we will be able to act decisively… and communicate clearly… throughout the entire organization.” - Jim Kilts.

One of the major traps for new leaders, however, is to select the wrong priorities - or, more colorfully stated, pick the wrong battles.