If You Plan Instead of Acting, You Plan to Fail

In my latest monthly column for the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, I reflect on why planning often replaces action, and why organizations that wait for certainty fall behind those willing to test, learn, and move early.

Recently, I was working with a client. The topic was a new software they wanted to buy. I mentioned that it might be worth checking whether it could be built internally with the help of AI, faster, cheaper, and more tailored to their needs.

The response was clear: "We are currently developing our five-year AI strategy. Until that is finished, we are not allowed to do anything with AI."

Five years, for a technology that reinvents itself every few months, built by people who barely use AI themselves. It is like planning a wedding without a bride. And we all know that in the end, she decides how it goes, not him.

I am not saying this to make fun of the client. This way of thinking is widespread, and it goes far beyond AI. It is rooted in the belief that good planning leads to good action. First think, then act. First define the concept, then move to execution. First create certainty, then allow movement.

It sounds reasonable. It often isn't.

Plans fail for two reasons.

The first is simple: lack of discipline. Everyone knows this pattern from a training plan in January. The intentions are ambitious, but execution fades after a couple of weeks. Not because the plan itself was flawed, but because very few people follow through consistently.

Companies are no different. Strategy papers end up in drawers. Results from offsites gather dust in PowerPoint decks. The plan was never the problem. Execution was.

The second reason is more subtle. The plan was wrong from the start, not because people are incapable, but because it was based on assumptions that turned out to be wrong. This is not the exception. It is the rule.

Every long-term plan is a bet on the future. And the future does not follow our spreadsheets.

The truth is simple. We know less than we think. About markets, customers, technologies, and our ability to execute.

The only reliable way to reduce uncertainty is not better planning. It is earlier action. If you try something, you will learn more in a week than a strategy team will in three months. Not because strategy is unimportant, but because strategy without experience is speculation.

This does not mean acting without direction. It means: plan shorter, act faster.

Execute, observe, learn, adjust.

The best companies do not plan less. They plan shorter. And they act earlier. They accept that the first attempt will not be perfect. That is exactly why they improve faster.

This is not just about companies. It applies to every decision.

The business idea that has been "not ready" for three years.
The difficult conversation with a colleague you still need to "prepare for."
The application you will send "once your resume is perfect."

Planning is often the most elegant form of procrastination. It feels productive and avoids risk. As long as you plan, you cannot fail.

But you also cannot learn. And most importantly, no value is created.

No customer benefits from your planning. No product improves. Impact only comes from execution.

My client will complete their five-year strategy. Maybe with McKinsey, maybe internally. It will look professional, be packaged in a polished presentation, and be approved by everyone.

And the moment it is done, it will already be outdated. Because the world did not wait.

The uncomfortable question is not: Do you have a plan?

It is: What did you try today?

From nothing comes nothing.