The articulation of a national vision that describes America’s purpose in the post–September 11th world is useful—indeed, it is vital—but describing a destination is no substitute for developing a comprehensive roadmap for how the country will achieve its stated goals.

It contended, “All too much of what is put forward as strategy is not. The basic problem is confusion between strategy and strategic goals.

The strategic plan did not lack for texture and detail. Looking within the agricultural equipment group, for example, there is information and discussion about each segment.

A great deal of strategy work is trying to figure out what is going on. Not just deciding what to do, but the more fundamental problem of comprehending the situation.

Good guiding policies are not goals or visions or images of desirable end states. Rather, they define a method of grappling with the situation and ruling out a vast array of possible actions.