The PE Pretend Plan: Why Most Transformation Blueprints Fail Before They Begin

1. The Problem No One Talks About

Every PE-backed transformation starts with a plan.
Usually polished. Often templated. Always confident.

But let’s be honest—many of these plans are dead on arrival.
Not because they lack logic. But because they lack ownership, traction, and truth.

We call them “Pretend Plans.”
And they’re more common than anyone wants to admit.

2. What Is a Pretend Plan?

It’s the one with too many slides and not enough alignment.
It’s the one that sounds great in the boardroom but confuses the frontline.
It’s the one where everyone nods—but no one commits.

Pretend Plans are the product of:

• Outsourced thinking

• Misaligned incentives

• Over-indexed diligence assumptions

• Under-indexed leadership bandwidth

They look strategic.
But they feel foreign.
And they die quietly—without ever being challenged.

3. The Hidden Cost of Pretend Planning

• Talent fatigue: Teams grow numb to change rhetoric

• Execution debt: Delays compound, and recovery becomes harder

• Strategy drift: Operating plans outpace investment theses

• Board misalignment: Investors lose confidence before OpCo traction even begins

4. What Real Transformation Plans Look Like

A real plan isn’t:

• Built in PowerPoint

• Outsourced to a consultant

• Focused only on KPIs

A real plan:

• Is co-created with the CEO, Operating Partner, and functional leads

• Focuses on “next 30 days” and “next 3 levers”

• Tracks decision velocity—not just metrics

• Builds feedback loops—not dashboards

5. The Operating Partner’s Role: Translator, Not Enforcer

Operating Partners shouldn’t enforce the plan.
They should translate it—upward, downward, and sideways.

Their role is to:

• Detect energy gaps

• Align reality with thesis

• Ensure execution has gravity—not just urgency

6. Final Thought: Build Plans Worth Following

The most dangerous thing in PE isn’t failure.
It’s performative alignment.

Where everyone agrees—and no one acts.

At VCII, we teach leaders to spot the signs of pretend planning early.
And build value creation systems that work in real companies, with real people, under real pressure.

Don’t manage the optics.
Manage the oxygen.
And build plans that breathe.

#PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #OperatingPartner #StrategyExecution #PostClosePlanning #TransformationLeadership #VCIInstitute #MohamadChahine