You don't have to see the whole staircase to take the first step.

You know the feeling. You’re driving at night, and the only thing you can see is what your headlights illuminate a few meters ahead. You know your destination. The route is set in your navigation. But you have no idea what you’ll encounter along the way.

Yet, you drive anyway.

Not because you’re certain everything will go exactly as planned. But because you trust the direction and are prepared to adjust based on what you see.

That is how strategy works, too.

What I frequently see in leadership teams is a hesitation to make strategic choices. Often, it’s because the outcomes are still uncertain. They want more data, more certainty, a clearer picture of what things will look like in X amount of time. It’s understandable, but if you wait until you can see the entire road, you’ll never leave.

It’s not that organizations choose the wrong destination. It’s more that they stay put because the path to get there isn't fully visible. And meanwhile, the rest of the world keeps moving.

Strategy is not a guarantee. It is a well-considered direction combined with the willingness to adjust along the way based on what you encounter.

Headlights as a management system

What you need isn't more certainty. What you need is a system that enables you to see what lies directly ahead, so you can steer and act accordingly.

The destination, your long-term goal, is fixed. The route, your strategy, is your best estimate of how to get there. But the headlights—your review moments and metrics—determine whether you see in time when you need to adjust.

If you only focus on the destination and never look at the road, you’ll end up in the ditch sooner or later. If you only look at the road and forget the destination, you’ll just drive in circles.

That balance is exactly what a well-implemented OGSM process should safeguard. The Objective is the destination. The Strategies are the route. The Dashboard and the quarterly review are the headlights—not to predict the future, but to see in time what lies directly in front of you.

You don’t need to see the whole road to get started. You need a destination, a route you trust, and headlights that reach far enough to allow you to adjust in time.

You’ll discover the rest along the way.

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