When Sun-Tzu said "Every Battle Is Won Before It Is Ever Fought.", he highlighted the absolute importance of Planning that can lead to positive result in subsequent Execution. In other words, Execution can be excellent, only when Planning is perfect. Also important is the planning for most contingencies, which is exactly what a best General or a savvy Manager does. When it doesn't happen, you would see even the best planning lose, and competitor's with mere average planning win. It's interesting to realize that these spupreme strategies were thought about, and explained 2500 years ago, by Sun-Tzu, outstanding Chinese military general, visionary strategist and great philosopher. Amazing!
Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate