Dave Snowden has an interesting post about Avoiding reality in favour of a vision. He argues that organisations get fixated on visioning processes that serve mostly to distract them from dealing with the present. I also agree with him that management processes around strategy and budgeting often boil down to games.

He suggests that a future focus provides a good excuse to avoid dealing with the drudgery of reality:

Present possibilities are rarely as compelling as future visions... visionary journeys through the silvan forests to the land of milk and honey that lies beyond is much more fun that dealing with the harsh reality of the present.

Bonus link: Jack Ricchiuto wonders about using the future as a lens through which to better understand the present. I think I understand what he means but I'm not quite sure!