Defining purpose, discovering insights, and combining the two into a strategy is not easy. All three steps are hard, which is why the strategy development puzzle frequently doesn’t get solved. But the puzzle is made more difficult if we fail to distinguish between purpose and constraint, if we doggedly put objectives before strategy and strategy before tactics, and if we design structured planning processes with timetables that do not allow for the discovery of new insights. By defining purpose and insight as the two islands of substance in the strategy swamp, managers have a better chance of progressing toward the winning strategy they are all striving for.