An executive can say that long-term thinking is essential while spending each week resolving operating exceptions. The calendar may reflect genuine demands, but it can also reveal decisions that have remained unnecessarily dependent on the CEO.
A percentage quoted from another study cannot settle which explanation applies in your company.
Examine the recent choices
Look at the last month of senior attention. Which strategic questions received time? Which were repeatedly postponed, and what displaced them?
Trace the recurring interruptions. Some may require the CEO. Others may expose a missing owner, an unclear authority limit or a persistent delivery problem.
Give one strategic question a proper review
Define the question and gather the evidence before protecting the time. Invite people who can challenge the current view. Agree on the choice the review may lead to, including what could be stopped.
If the meeting produces only another update, ask what authority or information was missing. Calendar protection is necessary in some situations but insufficient when the session cannot change an allocation.
At the next review, inspect the choices made since the previous one. Long-term thinking becomes part of the role when it affects present commitments. An isolated planning day has limited value if every subsequent decision returns to the old pattern.
