How to write a strategy that people will read

One of the challenges of writing a strategy (whether it is about infrastructure or finance) is to decide how much background information to include.

A certain amount is essential in order to make sense of the issues. However, including too much existing information early on in the document can be an obstacle to readers reaching your fresh thinking.

Novelists face the same challenge. How to introduce enough about the characters and their situation so that readers will care about them, but also plunge into the conflict at the centre of the story?
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In both cases it's essential not to take too long to get to the point. The advice of New Zealand novelist and playwright Renée is as relevant to strategy writers as novelists: write out your back story, then think of it as a glass mirror that you smash into little shards, and spread throughout the story