Seven deadly sins of strategic planning observed by Ian Wilson at GE, 1994:
1. The staff took over the process-executives were purposefully (and inadvertantly)
cut out of the strategic development process.
2. The process dominated the staff-too much emphasis was placed on analysis
while too little was placed on true insight.
3. Planning systems were virtually designed to produce no results-the role of
executives was diminished while the strategic planning system was not integrated
into the operations system.
4. Planning focused on the more exciting game of mergers, acquisitions, and
diverstitures at the expense of core business development-planning tools were not
used effectively
5. Planning processes failed to develop true strategic choices-planners and
executives satisficed rather than seeking the best possible alternative.
6. Planning neglected the organizational and cultural requirements of strategythey sacrificed the internal environment for the sake of focusing on the external.
7. Single-point forecasting was an inappropriate basis for planning in an era of
restructuring and uncertainty-single-point forecasting was used instead of the
more appropriate scenario-based planning.