On numbers for the board, investors and internal…

While planning and projections are critical, what gets communicated depends on the stakeholder. 

For a board plan, you want to show numbers that are a stretch, but attainable. Numbers that show that the leadership is ambitious. Of course they need to be attainable with good execution. Not flawless execution, but really good execution. Boards don’t want to see conservative numbers at all times - else while you hit your numbers and earn their trust, they can also suspect that you are not being ambitious enough. But at the same time, boards don’t want you to miss numbers all the time. It’s a fine balance.

Investors are a different beast. They don’t like stretches. They like predictability. To investors you show a projection that you can hit. That has meaningful risk baked in. 

Internally, transparency is good. So execution leaders know what’s at stake. That they can be part of a winning team, and have good compensation effects if they execute well. And flip side, what they lose if they don’t.