--- title: Business: 6 Common Strategy and Planning Traps to Avoid description: Strategy does not mean goal or objective canonical: https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-19T11:00:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:30:29.800Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 6 Common Strategy Traps Anyone Can Fall Into og:description: Strategy does not mean goal or objective og:url: https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e1d0d567479a2cb/6988543f428a9ec891ccdacf/468838041-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=501&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 501 og:image:height: 282 og:image:alt: business-people-chart-graph og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Common Strategy Traps Anyone Can Fall Into twitter:description: Strategy does not mean goal or objective twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e1d0d567479a2cb/6988543f428a9ec891ccdacf/468838041-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=501&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 6 Common Strategy Traps Anyone Can Fall Into > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=787a0f74-3501-417a-91ca-d87007fc9a46&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 19, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Business people discussing charts and graphs hanging in office Business people discussing charts and graphs hanging in office Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 19, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Strategy could be the most over-used word since leadership. How many strategies can one organization have? A lot of people say “strategy” when they really mean goal or objective. One of the best books on Strategy is Roger Martin and A. G. Lafley’s [Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/142218739X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=142218739X&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=5BMQX47SQBXYDOGU). In this excerpt they comment on the signals that a company has a worrisome strategy. --- > “” --- [Playing to Win](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/142218739X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=142218739X&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=5BMQX47SQBXYDOGU) is right up there with [Good Strategy Bad Strategy](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/04/a-primer-on-strategy/) on my list of must reads for anyone seeking an understanding of strategy as it relates to business. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/"},"headline":"6 Common Strategy Traps Anyone Can Fall Into","datePublished":"2015-06-19T11:00:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:30:29.800Z","description":"Strategy does not mean goal or objective","url":"https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/","keywords":["Psychology","Careers & Workplace","Business topic","Planning","career","strategy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e1d0d567479a2cb/6988543f428a9ec891ccdacf/468838041-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e1d0d567479a2cb/6988543f428a9ec891ccdacf/468838041-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"business-people-chart-graph","caption":"business-people-chart-graph","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3919093/strategy-traps/","name":"6 Common Strategy Traps Anyone Can Fall Into"}}]}] ```