And for them to be listened to, what is independent on how well they communicate; and for them to be aligned with the most powerful stakeholder, what is almost never the case; and for no big change to happen in an uncontrolled way, what powerful people nowadays seem intent on causing all the time.
If you create the plan like a mathematical formula like my boss did, the evidence becomes irrefutable... like a mathematical proof. The article does mention that the plan is communication tool.
Everywhere I worked technically correct and irrefutable facts were enough times thrown away and dismissed based on someone feeling or emotion that I don’t believe in irrefutable mathematical proof being communication tool that solves everything.
There had to be something more like just that guys authority or him being majority shareholder or him being super empathetic that he knew how to handle people.
That’s a bit uncharitable but following this line of thought - you also need those smart people to be confident and communicative.