Monday Morning Musings
Volume XXIV, Number 41 (Issue 1202) October 12, 2026
Seldom is Progress Linear
While Euclidean geometry teaches us the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, “taxicab” geometry, also known as Manhattan geometry, depicts a longer distance must be traveled to get between point A and point B in a geometric space (such as a city). Nor should we overlook the greater distance that must be traveled if we are talking about getting from A to B in a curved space (i.e., between two points on a sphere). Add the additional dimension of time or a pair of non-parallel, intersecting lines that cross at a point on the vertical axis and we find that the distance (or “gap”) between the two lines increases with the length of time that is depicted. All of this is to say we must be mindful that planning, progress, and even life is never as easy as it appears on paper. Furthermore, much of what we do involves two steps forward and one step (and sometimes two or three) back. Knowing that to be the case, we nonetheless plan as if there will be zero setbacks or detours along our path. If only our world worked that way.
When, as consultants, we are engaged to assist a client with their strategic planning efforts, among the critical concepts we discuss is the planning “gap” or the difference between where momentum is taking the organization and where leadership wants it to be at some point in the future. The longer the horizon, the wider the gap. Yet countless leaders plan as if getting from A to B (really from A to “E” or “A” to “F”) is linear in nature. Our five decades in the business have taught us to expect something different. In fact, in the majority of cases, circumstances are such that organizations sometimes need to take steps back to address the impediments legacy decisions have created. Failing to do that, they are apt to find themselves waging concurrent campaigns on multiple fronts – which according to multiple studies involving both business and the military, only works about three percent of the time. Personally, I would have estimated the percentage of multi-tasking success to be several times that. So, clearly, thirty-three to one are terrible odds. That must loom large inasmuch as all organizations operate with finite rather than infinite resources and for some, margins are razor thin. To quote a familiar proverb, “Waste not, want not.”
I will admit, having to press pause on a grand plan in order to fix problems can be frustrating – especially once your team is energized by the unveiling of a new, compelling vision. Yet, slowing down to speed up can also be a powerful call to action once the team realizes the issues being addressed have been a major source of their frustration.
Another caution we give our clients involves the planning fallacy – a topic mentioned briefly in Musings Volume XXIV, Number 32, (August 10, 2026). To refresh some memories and enlighten others, the planning fallacy states that tasks always take longer than planned. Much of that can be traced to the things we did not anticipate together with things beyond our control. The science of project management acknowledges and seeks to allow for such unknowns and uncontrollables through the incorporation of buffers into most project plans. For those with little exposure to project planning, a buffer is simply a block(s) of time where exaggerated windows are scheduled into the plan in anticipation of unforeseen delays.
There are other factors that contribute to why so many strategic goals go unmet including lack of ownership, detail (especially in the initial stages), communication, commitment, follow-through, resources, and accountability. One might add the squirrel factor to this list given the initiatives that are abandoned in favor of a new shiny object. All of this is to say there are forces working against us to undermine and defeat our best-laid plans. The leader’s role is to set the goal and devise the plan. He or she must, with the assistance of their team, also work to remove and overcome the roadblocks that inevitably get in the way.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town…’ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:13-15
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210) 260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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