You may be discussing a five-year strategy, but everyone knows that what really matters is getting a “yes” to the first-year budget. The outcome of all these dynamics is the Hockey stick projection, confidently showing future success after a dip to account for first-year spending—a bold forecast that, more often than not, fails to materialize.
People are prone to many unconscious cognitive biases to filter information in day-to-day decision-making. But these unintentional mental shortcuts can distort the outcomes when we making big, consequential decisions, infrequently, and under high uncertainty - precisely the strategy related type. Even the most seasoned executives have only limited experience and pattern recognition in these situations.
More from McKinsey on what you need to look for can be found HERE.
