Strategic Thinking: A Pragmatic Approach to Vision

The vision thing. George Bush downplayed it; Lou Gerstner said it was the last thing IBM needed, and it makes many executives uncomfortable. It's easy to see why. On the one hand, vision often means stirring slogans and ambitious generalities, but too few details about how to realize them. On the other, it sometimes means betting the company on some highly speculative view of the future.