Stephen Bungay

The Art of Action

1. IDEA 1

   Plans meet friction

   Bungay, a historian and consultant, argues that organisations struggle to turn plans into action because of friction, the unpredictable problems of the real world. He draws on lessons from the Prussian army in the nineteenth century.

2. IDEA 2

   Three gaps cause trouble

   Bungay identifies three gaps: between plans and what actually happens, between plans and actions, and between actions and outcomes. In his account, each gap is a place where people can misunderstand the plan or drift away from it.

3. IDEA 3

   Moltke learned from war

   Bungay draws on Helmuth von Moltke, a Prussian general who realised that no plan survives unchanged in war. In his account, this lesson means leaders must plan for surprise instead of expecting everything to go as written.

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