By Bob Power

 “I should become more of a strategic thinker.”  Now there’s a phrase I’ve seen more and more often on the performance reviews and 360 surveys of managers I coach.  And I, like the manager in question, scratch my head and think “What do they mean by that?” 

If you research the term ‘strategic thinking’, you’ll find nearly as many definitions for it as exist for the equally ambiguous term ‘leadership’.  However, you’ll probably find that the most commonly used definition focuses on some aspect of creative thinking — with some treating strategic thinking as almost synonymous with creativity.

If you think about it, this doesn’t quite make sense. Think for example of colleagues who were constantly coming up with off-the-wall (read creative) ideas that were completely impractical; others generating ideas that may have had promise, but never following through with implementation.  So, there must be more to strategic thinking than creativity.

Having said that, let me describe an approach to strategic thinking that accurately reflects the type of thinking exhibited by great entrepreneurs of our time; those who have built hugely successful businesses from scratch. I’m talking about people like Michael Dell, Frank Smith at Fed-ex, and Phil Knight at Nike.  Just stop for a moment and think about what kind of strategic thinking was required by them in order to progress from an off-the-wall idea to a huge multi-billion dollar business.  Their creative but unorthodox ideas like online computer sales, a hub and spokes courier company, and a running shoe sole made with a waffle iron were a great starting point, but if you or I had ideas like that, I doubt we could develop them into multi-billion dollar businesses.

These examples and dozens like them provide insight into a second critical aspect of strategic thinking. One that is, in a sense, the opposite of creativity. A strategic thinker certainly must be creative but they must also have the logical/analytical skills necessary to translate an idea into an action plan, and to implement that action plan. For those readers with a long memory, you may recognize these two thinking styles as reflective of a fad term from many years back. We called it left brain versus right brain thinking. I could never remember which was which, but I think right brain thinking is the creative and left brain thinking the analytical.  So strategic thinking requires a combination of both left and right brain thinking.

To paraphrase the bard, “There’s the rub”, because very few of us are naturally disposed to be skilful at both left and right brain thinking. Some of us have strong creative thinking ability and are less able to plan, organize, and implement. Others are great at logical analytical problems, but not very creative. Only a lucky few of us are gifted with both sides, and thus become “natural” strategic thinkers.

That doesn’t mean however that we must always be limited in this regard. You probably know without complex analysis which of these is your greater strength. You know if you’re creative.  You know if you are analytical and a great organizer. If you don’t know, there are lots of simple tools available that will tell you. (The Meyers Briggs Type Inventory is one.)  Once you know that there are these two sides to strategic thinking and which element is your strength, then you can leverage this strength and develop your weaker side. How do you develop creativity? How do you become more organized and analytical? Well your local bookshop or e-book shop has many books devoted to each of these topics.  Find one that suits your taste, and make a start.

Although these two thinking styles are the crux of strategic thinking, they are by no means the only important factors.  You must know and understand the strategy of the larger organization within which you are setting your own strategic direction.  It also helps if you understand the complete business model of your organization and how all the pieces “fit together”. (This is often called systems thinking). You must be familiar with the effective use of a strategy formulation process. Finally, it will help if you demonstrate certain personality attributes such as persistence and confidence, but not so persistent and confident that you can’t adapt a strategy if it fails. In the words of Kenny Rogers, you have to “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” 

For whatever reason, comments regarding ‘lack of strategic thinking skills’ are more often directed at managers of support functions like Human Resources or IT.  In order to find a place at the strategic table, managers of these support functions are under increasing pressure to show that they think strategically. You won’t get there on the basis of this short article, but being able to define it in a way that makes it actionable, identifying your strengths and areas in which you much develop, and taking appropriate developmental action will be a great start. 

Bob Power, CEO, Touchstone Consulting Group, has over the past 20 years consulted to a wide range of local, national, and international clients in areas related to strategy, change and organizational development. Although his consulting and management development work has covered a wide range of topics, for the last 10 years he has focused on the development of management simulations designed to assess/develop managers and applied these simulations at companies like Nike, Dow Corning, Wendy’s and BC Ferries. His previous experience includes Manager HR/Training (BC Hydro, Canada Post). Learn more at www.touchstoneconsulting.ca.