To be effective as a leader, you
must develop skills in strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is
a process whereby you learn how to make your business vision a reality
by developing your abilities in team work, problem solving, and
critical thinking. It is also a tool to help you confront change,
plan for and make transitions, and envision new possibilities and
opportunities.
Strategic thinking is like making a movie. Every movie has a context
(or story) which it uses to get you to experience a certain outcome
(an emotion, in this case) at the end of the movie. Strategic thinking
is much the same in that it requires you to envision what you want
your ideal outcome to be for your business and then works backwards
by focusing on the story of HOW you will be able to reach your vision.
As you develop a strategic vision for your business, there are five
different criteria that you should focus on. These five criteria
will help you define your ideal outcome. In addition, they will
help you set up and develop the steps necessary to make your business
vision a reality.
The following is a list of the five criteria of the strategic thinking
process:
- Organization. The organization of your business
involves the people you will have working for you, the organizational
structure of your business, and the resources necessary to make
it all work. What will your organization look like? What type
of structure will support your vision? How will you combine people,
resources, and structure together to achieve your ideal outcome?
- Observation. When you are looking down at the
world from an airplane, you can see much more than when you are
on the ground. Strategic thinking is much the same in that it
allows you to see things from "higher up." By increasing
your powers of observation, you will begin to become more aware
of what motivates people, how to solve problems more effectively,
and how to distinguish between alternatives.
- Views. Views are simply different ways of thinking
about something. In strategic thinking, there are four viewpoints
to take into consideration when forming your business strategy:
the environmental view; the marketplace view; the project view;
and the measurement view. Views can be used as tools to help you
think about outcomes, identify critical elements and adjust your
actions to achieve your ideal position.
- Driving Forces. What are the driving forces
that will make your ideal outcome a reality? What is your company's
vision and mission? Driving forces usually lay the foundation
for what you want people to focus on in your business (i.e., what
you will use to motivate others to perform). Examples of driving
forces might include: individual and organizational incentives;
empowerment and alignment; qualitative factors such as a defined
vision, values, and goals; productive factors like a mission or
function; quantitative factors such as results or experience;
and others such as commitment, coherent action, effectiveness,
productivity, and value.
- Ideal Position. After working through the first
four phases of the strategic thinking process, you should be able
to define your ideal position. Your ideal position outline should
include: the conditions you have found to be necessary if your
business is to be productive; the niche in the marketplace that
your business will fill; any opportunities that may exist either
currently or in the future for your business; the core competencies
or skills required in your business; and the strategies and tactics
you will use to pull it all together.
By working through these five areas, you will begin to get a clearer
picture of exactly how your business vision can be accomplished.
As your vision becomes more focused, your ideas will appear stronger
and more credible. Not only will it be easier to convince others
that your idea is a good one, but it will also be easier to maintain
your own conviction and motivation when you reach any pitfalls or
obstacles in the road.
Overall, you can apply strategic thinking skills to any area of
your life. But by making a concerted effort to apply them specifically
to your business venture, you will have a much better chance of
bringing your vision to life. And isn't that what you want? |