Don’t interrupt me…I’m thinking strategically!
Step inside the boardroom of any major corporation and certain elements of this rather sterile environment within the so called ‘corridors of power’ will be common across the globe.
Although the décor and the view through the windows may be different, many of the ‘buzz words’ on the lips of Directors and Executive management will be remarkably similar. In recent years many of these buzz words have migrated from the boardroom into everyday language – for example ‘bottom line’, ‘downsizing’ and ‘feedback loops’ etc but the current favourite seems to be “strategic thinking”.
This rather confusing and odd phrase now seems to have moved out of the text books written by Business Consultants and into the realms of mainstream business – but what exactly does it mean? And how is anyone supposed to ‘think’ in a strategic way – and why should they want to?
In simple terms ‘Strategy’ is the plan that an organisation needs to follow to meet its objectives. It is a plan that all employees need to understand so that everyone within the organisation has a common shared aim and focus. A typical corporate strategy for example will usually define which products and services will be developed and sold to which markets and also how success will be measured e.g. how well the strategy performs financially and in terms of customer service and satisfaction.
Strategic thinking is therefore about applying skills, resources, people, products and services in such a way that identifies, prioritises and implements change because strategy is all about change and managing change effectively. It is also about forming a long term view of goals and objectives and how a series of short term activities ultimately lead to the achievement of those goals.
The really useful thing about ‘strategic thinking’ though is that it need not just be a skill utilised within big companies. Thinking in a ‘strategic’ way is equally beneficial in all walks of life and is a useful life skill that any of us can learn to adopt.
Strategic thinking is all about tackling projects or tasks in a structured rather than an ad hoc way – and it doesn’t matter whether the task is planning a holiday or planning a corporate merger – the core principles are the same.
Take an example like moving to a new house. This is an activity that involves a lot of thought and planning and yet a lot of people undertake this task without really thinking about all of the key factors that are involved and create lots of stress for themselves. If you were to approach this task from a ‘strategic viewpoint’ everything becomes more manageable. For example you might want to start by listing the different planning elements of the moving process e.g.
- Financial considerations (Estate agency fees, Legal costs, removal costs, new furniture costs etc)
- Practical considerations (distance to work, shops, schools, hospitals etc)
- Timescale considerations (synchronising purchase and sale, seasonal factors etc)
- Administrative considerations (advising change of address to all your contacts, banks, friends, relatives etc)
A ‘strategic’ view of the moving house process would start though with the ‘big picture’ view i.e. asking yourself – Why do you want to move? Where to? What are the advantages and disadvantages? This means you would need to start analysing the reasons behind your decision, you would then ask yourself who is going to be affected by the move? What are the risks involved? Who else needs to be part of the decision making process? What lifestyle changes will be required? Only if every question can be answered satisfactorily would you move from the “Analysis” phase to the “Planning phase” and finally the “Implementation phase”
This might seem to be over complicated for such a simple example but it gives an idea of why thinking ‘strategically’ can sometimes help put things in perspective and create order where there might otherwise be chaos.
In the corporate world, as in life generally, there are problems to be solved, people to be communicated with, tasks to be completed and long term goals to consider. Perhaps we can all learn something from the big companies who employ highly paid consultants to help them structure their thinking. Perhaps we too can learn to adopt ‘strategic thinking’ techniques to help put our own lives in a little bit more order!
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