pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Strategy and planning

Operation Overlord, 1944. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

One objective. Five beaches. One weather report. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Annual plan and OKRs

  • 156,115 men landed
  • 6,939 vessels
  • 1 day postponed
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1944 Annual plan and OKRs

Operation Overlord

One objective. Five beaches. One weather report.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→12 slides

It's a live deck. Press start, then scroll or use the arrow keys, or play it full screen.

Play the 2026 deck

Operation Overlord's annual plan and OKRs, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Operation Overlord deck, slide 1: One objective. Five beaches. 01One objective. Five beaches.
  2. Operation Overlord deck, slide 2: Last year's plan: three divisions. We need five. 02Last year's plan: three divisions. We need five.
  3. Operation Overlord deck, slide 3: The board wrote our objective in one sentence. 03The board wrote our objective in one sentence.
  4. Operation Overlord deck, slide 4: Five key results, each with a date. Every one gets graded. 04Five key results, each with a date. Every one gets graded.
  5. Operation Overlord deck, slide 5: We can't take a port on day one, so we are bringing two. 05We can't take a port on day one, so we are bringing two.
  6. Operation Overlord deck, slide 6: The most dangerous army in England is one we made up. 06The most dangerous army in England is one we made up.
  7. Operation Overlord deck, slide 7: Three phases, ninety days, and one date the weather owns. 07Three phases, ninety days, and one date the weather owns.
  8. Operation Overlord deck, slide 8: Every key result has one owner. The weather has a Group Captain. 08Every key result has one owner. The weather has a Group Captain.
  9. Operation Overlord deck, slide 9: Every risk has a fallback. The cost in lives has none. 09Every risk has a fallback. The cost in lives has none.
  10. Operation Overlord deck, slide 10: Five things we won't do. One we'll fake. 10Five things we won't do. One we'll fake.
  11. Operation Overlord deck, slide 11: Go/no-go is a weather report. Tuesday is go. 11Go/no-go is a weather report. Tuesday is go.
  12. Operation Overlord deck, slide 12: One owner if it fails. He wrote it down. 12One owner if it fails. He wrote it down.

Then · 1944

How it really went

Read the real storythe National Archives: Eisenhower's Order of the Day and his "in case of failure" note
  1. May 1943: the Allies agree to cross the Channel within a year
  2. Morgan's COSSAC staff write an outline plan for three divisions on 1 May 1944
  3. Quebec approves it in August 1943
  4. Eisenhower is named Supreme Commander; he and Montgomery widen it to five divisions plus three airborne
  5. The extra landing craft push the date to June
  6. Mulberry harbours are built in secret to tow across the Channel
  7. Fortitude invents an army under Patton aimed at the Pas-de-Calais
  8. Stagg forecasts a storm; the 5 June landing is postponed 24 hours
  9. A break in the weather: Eisenhower gives the go for 6 June
  10. He writes a note taking the blame in case of failure, and dates it July 5
  11. About 156,000 men land on five beaches on D-Day

Now · 2026 · 12 slides

What we changed

  • The key results get gradedFive KRs with real target dates flip from Plan to Scored: the beaches on time, Caen 45 days late, the Seine 15 days early.
  • Toggle what Germany sawOne map, two views: Patton's army group massing in Kent, or wood, canvas, simulated radio and one Spaniard with 27 imaginary agents.
  • The go/no-go is a forecastStagg's real forecasts for 5 and 6 June, checked against the minimums, with the tide windows and the storm that would have hit on the 19th.
  • The plan says what it won't doCalais, a defended port, the peninsulas, 1 May and perfect weather all struck through in red pencil. Calais gets an asterisk.

Steal the structure

Build your annual plan and okrs like Operation Overlord did.

  1. 01 Cover The year in one line: the objective and the scale of it.
  2. 02 Where we are Score last year's plan honestly before proposing this year's, corrections in red.
  3. 03 The one objective One sentence the whole company can repeat, ideally in the board's own words.
  4. 04 Key results Three to five measurable results with dates, set up to be graded at year end.
  5. 05 Bet one The biggest bet that delivers the KRs, with its specs and what it costs to build.
  6. 06 Bet two The second bet, shown working: what the market sees versus what is true.
  7. 07 Phases and timeline Past, you-are-here, next, with the phases and the one date you don't control.
  8. 08 Owners and resources One owner per result, with the resources they command next to their name.
  9. 09 Risks and contingencies Each risk with an owner and a fallback, and the real cost stated plainly.
  10. 10 Not doing The options you rejected, struck through, with one line of why for each.
  11. 11 Go/no-go The decision criteria against the latest data, and the verdict.
  12. 12 The decision Who decided, when, and who owns it if it fails.

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