The reason that you are "mis-speaking in church" if you challenge
"you have to know where you're starting from" is that we are embedded
in (ancient) Western philosophy which is linear, simple cause &
effect, etc. That is why "backward planning" is only a small
improvement. The goal, the steps back and everything else about it
is grounded in the same logic. It merely serves as a temporary means
of tricking the ancient ways of thinking.
Have you ever seen a backwards planning process that set a target
that was truly impossible? Have you ever seen a backwards planning
process that didn't arrive back at the current situation?
I'd love to have been involved in one that created a target planned
backwards and, as it neared a starting point, discovered that the
starting point was impossible to get to from where the originators of
the plan were.
-- Michael McMaster Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk