The Reality Test: Still Relying on Strategy?

How is it that the most carefully laid business strategies can go horribly wrong when put into practice? Robert Rowland Smith's answer, based on years of experience in high-level consultancy, is that "reality eats strategy for breakfast": strategy, based on projections and assuming business is a rational pursuit, can't deal with the messy reality of life.

Robert Rowland Smith advises blue-chip companies, teaches at London's School of Life, and writes, among other things, a regular column in the Sunday Times.