Strategic planning has undergone a major transformation since the 1980s and 1990s. Once centered on long-term forecasts and static documents, it is now driven by agility, collaboration, and real-time data. Influenced by thinkers like Henry Mintzberg and Peter Drucker, modern strategy focuses less on prediction and more on alignment between purpose and performance. New tools like OKRs, Canvas, and Balanced Scorecard enable flexible, participatory planning that engages teams across all levels. In today’s fast-changing world, planning has become a continuous, courageous act of learning and adaptation.

For decades, strategic planning was seen as a technical exercise, reserved for an organization’s top leadership. In the 1980s and 1990s, it followed a nearly rigid script: scenario analysis, definition of mission and vision, and long-term goals. Everything was formal, predictable, and centered on lengthy documents. Influenced by a mechanistic view of management, this model treated the future as something controllable, as if every step could be forecasted and planned in advance. It was the peak of the belief in the plan as a definitive map.

Henry Mintzberg, in his classic The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, dismantles this logic. For him, strategy is not merely the result of carefully crafted plans. True strategy emerges from practice, experimentation, and learning along the way. He criticizes the excessive focus on forecasting and argues that strategy must be flexible, sensitive to the environment, and shaped by the real actions of the organization. Peter Drucker, in The Practice of Management, goes even further: he reminds us that the goal of strategy is to align purpose with performance. For Drucker, more important than predicting the future is preparing for it based on solid values and a focus on what truly delivers value to the customer.

Today, strategic planning has taken on a new face. Successful organizations are replacing rigid plans with dynamic frameworks like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), Business Model Canvas, Balanced Scorecard, and Strategic Roadmaps. Visual and collaborative tools have taken the place of static reports. Instead of long five- or ten-year cycles, we now see agile cycles, reviewed quarterly. Modern planning is alive, adaptive, and data-driven. It connects purpose, goals, and continuous learning. Even more: it steps out of the boardroom and into the teams, involving all levels of the organization in its development.

Engaging people in the planning process has never been more critical. Organizations that involve their employees from diagnosis to strategic action design achieve better results. When people participate, they understand the "why" behind the goals, feel part of the solution, and actively contribute to outcomes. In this new context, strategy is no longer a document. It's culture. It’s conversation. It’s daily practice. It's a collective movement that renews itself each cycle. And this transforms not only the plans—but also the organization’s behavior.

More than ever, planning is an act of courage. Courage to listen, to adapt, to learn. The organizations that thrive today are those that treat strategic planning as a compass, not a fixed map. They know where they want to go but are ready to change course when needed. The message is clear: update your models. Plan less on paper and more with people. Plan with purpose. With agility. With boldness. Because in today’s world, those who don’t adapt quickly are left behind.