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Chapter 3 - Strategic Planning

from Section 1 - Leadership and Strategy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2026

Alan David Kaye
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University School of Medicine
Richard D. Urman
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Charles J. Fox III
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University School of Medicine
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Summary

In his book Sensemaking in Organizations, Karl Weick describes the story of a small Hungarian military unit on maneuvers in the Alps of Switzerland [1]. It seems that the young lieutenant in charge dispatched a small group of men into the icy wilderness for a reconnaissance mission. After two days, the group had not returned, and the lieutenant feared he had sent these men to their death in an ill-fated mission. However, later that day the men suddenly appeared, marching back into camp unharmed. When he asked them how they found their way back to camp, they simply explained that when they thought all was lost, one of the men found a crumpled map in his pack. They reviewed the map, checked their provisions, and devised a plan to return to the base camp to join their fellow soldiers. As they were explaining this, the lieutenant asked to see the map and only then did anyone realize that the map was a map of the Pyrenees and not the Alps!

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