Are you a strategic thinker
Published: 04:01 PM,Jan 08,2023 | EDITED : 08:01 PM,Jan 08,2023
As we begin a New Year, many boards are turning their minds to the strategic planning cycle for the next 12 months. Directors are now encouraged to ‘think strategically’. Indeed, it is now considered that a board’s role is to think strategically and oversee strategic planning. However, what is strategic thinking?
Strategic thinking is a powerful and invaluable skill, one that leads to greater chances of success in whatever professional and personal projects you are involved in.
It involves setting goals, developing long-range plans, anticipating the unexpected, analysing your environment, and even cooperating with your competitors.
Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and challenging conventional thinking about them, in discussion with others. Finally, strategic thinking is having an awareness of what has not yet taken shape, having foresight. Therefore, boards should encourage forward thinking.
In a time of unprecedented uncertainty in the business landscape, strategic leadership is more critical than ever. The ability to think strategically and navigate change effectively is key to creating a sustainable organisation — yet true strategic thinking and planning skills are a rarity among most executives.
It can be difficult to be strategic. A strategic thinker is always searching for the unusual – something that is different – and is able to set assumptions aside. They intentionally look at things from different perspectives and can resist the urge to let one decision dictate or forecast future decisions, thus avoiding the sunk cost trap.
One of the worst things managers can do is always think they are right. You know the type. They dig in during meetings, refusing to listen to others. They grow red in the face with apoplectic anger that anyone dare have a different view. Anyone who does not agree with them is a fool or a knave. These people destroy an organisation no matter how talented or brilliant they are.
The first step is just to make sure you constantly question your own opinions. Second, do not just read people who look at the world differently; surround yourself with them. You can do this either at work or by regularly setting up gatherings with friends who think in other ways.
Make sure you recharge your brain and body regularly. Leaders who rise to the top are ones who constantly sharpen their strategic thinking by questioning their own views, by listening to different viewpoints, surrounding themselves by people with different expertise areas and doing anything else they can to gain different perspectives.
Strategic thinking is a powerful and invaluable skill, one that leads to greater chances of success in whatever professional and personal projects you are involved in.
It involves setting goals, developing long-range plans, anticipating the unexpected, analysing your environment, and even cooperating with your competitors.
Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and challenging conventional thinking about them, in discussion with others. Finally, strategic thinking is having an awareness of what has not yet taken shape, having foresight. Therefore, boards should encourage forward thinking.
In a time of unprecedented uncertainty in the business landscape, strategic leadership is more critical than ever. The ability to think strategically and navigate change effectively is key to creating a sustainable organisation — yet true strategic thinking and planning skills are a rarity among most executives.
It can be difficult to be strategic. A strategic thinker is always searching for the unusual – something that is different – and is able to set assumptions aside. They intentionally look at things from different perspectives and can resist the urge to let one decision dictate or forecast future decisions, thus avoiding the sunk cost trap.
One of the worst things managers can do is always think they are right. You know the type. They dig in during meetings, refusing to listen to others. They grow red in the face with apoplectic anger that anyone dare have a different view. Anyone who does not agree with them is a fool or a knave. These people destroy an organisation no matter how talented or brilliant they are.
The first step is just to make sure you constantly question your own opinions. Second, do not just read people who look at the world differently; surround yourself with them. You can do this either at work or by regularly setting up gatherings with friends who think in other ways.
Make sure you recharge your brain and body regularly. Leaders who rise to the top are ones who constantly sharpen their strategic thinking by questioning their own views, by listening to different viewpoints, surrounding themselves by people with different expertise areas and doing anything else they can to gain different perspectives.