The outstanding people realised that the job involved more than just writing a good strategic plan. It was also important that top management should understand the plan and be prepared to adopt it. Consequently, the best strategists made sure that executives were involved in decisions at an early stage. The less outstanding people didn't see this, and it had been overlooked by the experts. But, as soon as we showed them our findings, they could see that it made sense.

David C. McClelland (1998) in: Katherine Adams, "Interview by David C. McClelland, in Competency, vol. 4 no.3, Spring 1997, pp.18–23; Republished in orientamento.it, 19/11/2015