Skip to main content

Strategic Thinking

Defined as the process that determines the manner in which people think about, assess, view, and create the future for themselves and others.It's a combination of mindset and techniques that determines one's ability to know their goal and how to achieve it.

Strategic thinkers arehighly sought after for leadership positionsand areable to imagine the big picture, identify the possible impact of their decisions and project the way to get there.

Being more reflective​

Strategic thinkers understand and dig deeperwhen analyzing processes, developing and applying performance metrics, collecting data and producing analytics for better decision-making. They challenge the involved to consider answers for important questions

Being better leaders​

Strategic thinkers advance their careers by being better leaders. Not all great thinkers are great leaders, but the ones who are leadership material are likely better leaders than those who fail to think strategically.

Strategic leaders go beyond the role of having and communicating a vision to fully understanding, planning and executing the necessary strategies to realize it.They make better decisions as they have a more holistic view that includes the organization and the people inside and outside it.

Creating a domino effect​

Strategic thinkers demonstrate organizational value by creating more strategic thinkers.Developing a culture that considers strategy and doesn't lose sight of the value that needs to be delivered greatly increases the capabilities of a company. Strategic thinkers are the ones in the organization who ponder and prompt questions that are designed to create even more strategic thinkers.

Questions a strategic thinker might make​

  • Why is this important?
  • What are the long-term and short-term goals?
  • Who are the stakeholders and why are they so?
  • What biases influence the situation?
  • What are the fundaments behind our premises?
  • What are the consequences?
  • What is the plan and why is it so?
  • What are the resources available?
  • Which strategic analysis model do we apply?
  • What are the accountabilities? Does the culture encourage 360-degree accountability? How?
  • When it comes to performance management, what are our common standards for behavior?
  • What is the most powerful thing to do tomorrow to build/execute/advance the organizational and/or operational strategy? Why?

7 Characteristics of Strategic Thinking​

  1. Vision: they use a mix of logic and creativity to define ambitious but rigorous visions of what needs to be achieved.
  2. Framework: taking into account their own biases, timeline and resources, they can define their objectives and develop multiple action plans.
  3. Perceptiveness: they observe and understand the world from all the different perspectives.
  4. Assertiveness: They're good at evaluating, deciding and promptly executing their decisions without letting doubts fog their vision.
  5. Flexibility: they seek advice to compensate for their weaknesses and then twist their ideas and framework to achieve their goals. But they are flexible without breaking the rules.
  6. Emotional Balance: they are aware and balance their emotions so as to favor the achievement of their goals.
  7. Patience: they understand that most achievements are a long-term endeavor involving various milestones and a lot of effort.