For many years, I did five year plans. I'd sit there and do my best to map out what the next five years were going to be like. I would imagine great things: bold ambitions and brilliant outcomes. The other day as I was sorting through old boxes of paper, I came across some of these plans. What was both hilarious and slightly depressing about them is just how little resemblance those plans bear to what actually happened. Really understanding how to think and implement strategically is difficult. And while there are thousands of people who pontificate about it, only one of them is the #1 strategic thinker in the world. Rita McGrath is that person. She is a popular speaker and author and a long time faculty member at Columbia Business School. Her latest book is Seeing Around Corners: How to spot inflection points in business before they happen. She's been on the Thinkers 50 ranking for global management thinkers for more than a decade, and recently was ranked the number one thinker in strategy. In our conversation we look at the temptations and delusions of certainty; the power of Discovery Driven Planning; how to work back from the future; and why intelligent failure is a critical component of success. You can meet Rita at www.RitaMcGrath.com, or say hello on LinkedIn. She’s on Twitter at @RGMcGrath This show is brought to you by The Advice Trap, Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book. You can access a wide range of tools to help #TameYourAdviceMonster at www.TheAdviceTrap.com If you’d like to spend more time with Michael and people he admires, sign up for The Year of Living Brilliantly. 52 teachers over 52 weeks, each teaching one brilliant insight. Absolutely free