HBR Guide to Setting Your Strategy

CHAPTER 2

Five Myths About Strategy

by Stephen Bungay

There are lies, there are big lies, and then there are myths. And myths are the worst of the three.

Unless you have sealed yourself off in a social media echo chamber, lies are easy to spot. Except, that is, when the lie is a big one. People hearing or reading big lies start to doubt themselves and think “maybe I have got things completely wrong.” That’s why politicians and propagandists tell big lies. They’re not trying to assert a truth so much as sow doubt and confusion about what is true. That’s bad, but a smart person can resist a big lie by looking at the evidence at hand.

Myths present a different, subtler trap, which is what makes even smart people fall for them. They are seductive ...