In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
This was on my quotation list today. I thought that it was a rather Zen thing to say. It follows from the idea that knowledge is an impediment to understanding. If you got a plan, you might be inclined to view it as a true thing, when in reality, it is just an idea. Clinging to it, you lose flexibility.
And, as anyone who has lost a game of chess can tell you, when you are out of choices, the game is over.