Principles of Strategic Planning

Abstract

Strategies and tactics sound like big words and evoke images of Napoleon and Churchill, or at the very least, long, polished mahogany boardroom tables, but in reality every person strategizes. The Oxford English Dictionary defines strategy as a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. A 16-year-old high-school student deciding whether to apply to college to study accounting or go to Hollywood in pursuit of an acting career makes a strategic decision that will affect her future. The core logical procedures behind such decision-making apply to any type of critical planning.