Why Most Three-Year Plans Fail by Month Nine
Annual plans break on contact with reality. A quarterly operating cadence keeps strategy alive without endless re-planning.
By Maia Lafortezza, Founder and managing partner , 2 min read
Most three-year plans are accurate for about nine months. After that, reality has moved and the document quietly stops being used. Annual plans break on contact with reality. A quarterly operating cadence keeps strategy alive without endless re-planning.
Why annual planning breaks
Plans are built around assumptions about demand, hiring and costs that are revisited once a year at best. When one assumption fails, the whole plan feels wrong, so teams return to reacting. The problem is not the plan; it is the gap between reviews.
A quarterly cadence that keeps strategy alive
Keep the three-year choices stable, but review priorities, owners and measures every quarter in a half-day session. Retire what is finished, re-scope what is stuck and add no more than one new priority. Strategy becomes a rhythm instead of an event.
How we apply this with clients
In client work this usually becomes one priority on the quarterly plan, with a named owner and a measure the leadership team reviews every month. Our strategy partners start with a short diagnostic of where the business is today, then agree the smallest change that will make a visible difference within ninety days.
Key takeaways
- Separate stable long-term choices from quarterly priorities.
- Review owners and measures every quarter.
- Add at most one new priority per quarter.
Want to apply this in your business? Book a discovery call with a Maia Lafortezza partner.
Maia Lafortezza
Maia Lafortezza founded the firm in 2019 after nearly two decades across corporate finance, strategy consulting and operations. She began her career in transaction advisory, led growth and operating-model projects for mid-market and family-owned companies, and then served as chief operating officer of a European industrial group through a period of rapid expansion. Today she leads the firm's strategy and leadership practices, advises founders and boards directly, and writes on operating models, decision rights and building companies that last. She works in English, Italian and French.
More from Maia
Discussion