Don't jump to solutions - William B. Rouse

Strategic planning expert William Rouse cuts to the heart of the most common causes of failed business plans and strategies and shows how to overcome them. He encourages strategic thinkers and planners to spend much more time analyzing a situation instead of jumping to ready solutions. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, but the keen observations and sage advice Rouse offers aptly address a serious subject. It's a fast-track primer in critical thinking and evaluation planners and managers at every level can use to approach their work more effectively.

WILLIAM B. ROUSE is chief executive officer of Enterprise Support Systems, an Atlanta-based software company that produces a wide range of software systems and tools. An educator and author of several books--including Start Where You Are (Jossey-Bass, 1996)--he is also an experienced consultant who helps companies develop and implement strategic plans. He lives in Dunwoody, Georgia.

"Powerful, pragmatic, and jolting. A guide for how not to get trapped in one's own beliefs or those of the organization." (John Seely Brown, chief scientist and director, Xerox PARC, and author of Seeing Differently)
"Somehow Bill Rouse always seems to read my mind. His books give me a new perspective for my thinking on the very problems that are deviling our business right then. This latest treatise is no exception!" (Thomas R. Oliver, chairman and CEO, Holiday Inn Worldwide)
"This is a powerful and practical handbook for organizational consultants as well as business leaders." (Joyce L. Shields, Ph.D., managing director, Hay Management Consultants)
"William Rouse has done an excellent job of identifying the key 'delusions' that often undermine strategic thinking. More importantly, he has developed a number of insightful strategies for moving beyond them." (John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., CEO, American Cancer Society)
"Those submitting strategic planning to the dictate of firmly established assumptions will find, while reading this book, the necessity and the courage to fundamentally reconsider those premises." (Christoph Meier, managing director, CIM Center of Western Switzerland)