So, you think you are a Strategic Thinker?

And a few things to enhance your strategic thinking abilities

Well, if you do think your are a strategic thinking, you'd be right.  As a human being, it's just naturally something we do - and it's a capability that we use all the time whether we're envisioning what we might have for dinner tonight and then planning how to make it real, to something MUCH bigger like guiding a company. 

Strategy can be considered the process of achieving your goals (like the vision of dinner) using available resources (what I have in the cupboard) and  within constraints (guests arrive in a few hours).   Of course, I could go and increase my available resources by buying more ingredients.   So, while we all can and do think strategically, what varies between individuals, is the scale at which we do the strategic thinking, whether we rely on and stick to familiar tried and tested models of the world, and what we do when under pressure. 

Do I do these things?

Here are 5 key attributes of strategic thinking - how do you do on each? 

Patterning.  We spend a lot of our day patterning - we are constantly looking around us trying to make sense of what we see - what are the patterns?  It could be watching how people are behaving to sense their mood, or observing the clouds to guess at what the weather will do.  Taking the opportunity and time to explore or observe the world around us is crucial for understanding where we are and how the world around us works. And as part of our patterning, taking in multiple perspectives - remember the old parable about the blind people trying to describe an elephant purely based on which bit of the animal was in front of them - they all seemed to be describing something quite different - and only the collection of descriptions would come close to what was really there. 

Systemic Thinking. Much of our routine (conditioned) way of thinking involves breaking things down into its component parts (analysis) - and this is a very useful thing to do. We must also be able to see how things are connected and their interdependencies (synthesis).   This blog for example, has broken strategic thinking down into 5 component parts - the reality is that our brains just see this all as one continuum of thought as it seamlessly moves from one to another, or does several at once. Systemic thinking allows us to embrace the true complexity of the world while ensuring that we have considered all important elements; and invariably, the constituent parts of a complex system can only truly be understood in the context of the other parts around it.  Systemic thinking is crucial for understanding the fundamental nature of whatever we are considering. 

Adaptive Mental Mapping and Modeling.  As we observe and experience the world around us, we continue to add to a mental map that has been developing since we first came into the world.   The part of this that is based on our broad experience and knowledge of the world is what enables us to imagine possibilities; the part that is based on a fear such as stepping beyond what we know, or doing something wrong etc, is what we have come to know as the box, and while this is intended to keep us safe, it can limit our activity.  The mental maps we draw, and the mental models we build to explain how aspects of the world work, can become outdated; as strategic thinkers, we need to be open minded to this possibility  - and redraw the maps and adjust the models 'in the light of latest information' 

Visioning.   Our mental maps and models provide us with an understanding of how the world works and these are the key ingredients for visioning which is the ability to see possible alternative futures.  As a strategic thinker, the future is a place we want to create - not just arrive at.  The better we understand the nature of the world around us - both where we are in it and how it works, the better we can envision more challenging futures that are also achievable (where we want to position ourselves in the future) - and these challenging yet achievable types of vision when shared, become highly inspirational. 

Problem Solving.   Recognising a situation or a problem and then coming up with a solution is a process we go through hundreds of times a day - and we tend to do it mostly automatically - and for most things, quick and automatic is just fine. As strategic thinkers who are intent on creating the future, then some of this needs to be brought into the conscious domain. The other 4 elements of strategic thinking will provide us with a much richer resource for both better and more thoroughly identifying the problem, and then creatively solving the problem. Problem solving includes planning action - determining what is the best option for the future we want to create, and how do we make it real.  We are already practiced strategic thinkers; however, left to our own devices, or when we are under increasing amounts of pressure, we tend to consign our strategic thinking to the automatic domain - here, we do all of these things but just enough to keep us safe, keep us out of (too much) trouble, enough to solve the next issue, and fight the next fire; the very time when we should be thinking at a larger scale - not smaller.  And that is no way to run a business. 

Enhancing my Strategic Thinking abilities:

Here are a few 'activities' that can help enhance your strategic thinking abilities. Spend a little time each day on these: 

• Scan the news - look broadly (local, national, international), and not just your favourite subjects, and try a variety of publications (multiple perspectives).
• Do puzzles - do a wide range:  crosswords, sudoku, logic problems, the Chess.com daily puzzle - again don't just do your favourite.
• Spend some time chatting with people - they don't have to be long conversations. Try to tackle strategic or systemic topics, perhaps something from the news and how it impacts your business. Aim to have the conversation challenge your normal ways of thinking  or mental models you have (so don't pick people that just agree with you).   Don't try to solve issues, just gain insight and understanding.
• Be curious - pick something to be curious about - if it's moving maybe visualise where it's come from, where it's going and what will happen next - what does its current activity mean?   If it's still (an object) maybe ask what it is, how long it's been there, how and how often is it used. Here's what can happen.
• Imagine - alternative futures.  Don't worry about being constrained by what you think you can or can't do.  Use an 'If-then' approach; these are 2 different types of thinking.  We are very good at the 'then' type thinking ie looking at consequences of something (it's also the same thinking we use for planning to make something happen); we tend to do the 'if' thinking a lot less. Let your imagination go - there are no boundaries.  A crazy 'if' might generate a very desirable 'then' - you may then find a more realistic way of achieving it.
• Reflect - I'm meaning passive reflection here, where you give your brain permission to go into free flow - not think of anything in particular - just go where it wants.  If it tunes into the main issue or concern of the day, acknowledge it then change channel.

 With all of these activities, it's not about arriving at an answer or a conclusion, it's the process of doing the actual thinking that matters (the journey rather than the destination).  Your brain will take care of the rest - automatically; with a combination of neuroplasticity and our tendency to make connections and make sense of things, the benefits will start to creep into your everyday strategic thinking.  

Thinking strategically is a dynamic skill set, and so to develop as a strategic thinker it is important to be conscious of, regularly reflect on, and make use of these key attributes. It's not learning a new skill, it's honing an existing one.   

Thinking strategically is not just a matter of envisioning a future, but actually arriving at that envisioned future.  

Graham