I had been hired by the tourism department of a large Native American tribal government to help it develop a strategic plan. The department had a largish budget and had raised the visibility of tribal lands and attractions, but there was no rhyme or reason to the undertaking. Staff engaged public relations firms and bought airtimes and ads on whims.

So we met, and for two days we worked through the process of developing a systematic strategy for reaching the department’s objectives, for marching toward the vision. Afterward, a follow-up meeting was scheduled. The participants then retreated to their respective offices.

At the follow-up meeting, I discovered that no one had worked on plans or schedules to implement the strategic plan. No, indeed. They had retreated to their offices and cubicles to write reports about our meeting. The scheduled follow-up was the occasion to discuss the reports written about the previous meeting. Their forward movement had become a backward look. I wish I could report that the follow-up rehashing was a one-off event, but it wasn’t. It seemed they preferred reports over action, a paralysis that afflicts many organizations.

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