Strategic
Thinking
Professional Development Series
What are Strategic
Thinking Skills?
Any skills that allow you to think strategically are
those that can be used to solve difficult problems
and plan for the future. These skills are crucial to
reach business goals, overcome obstacles, and solve
problems, especially if they take weeks, months or
years to achieve.
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Definitions
“
S trategic thinking simply refers to a
deliberate and rational thought process
that examines the critical factors and
variables that will affect the long-term
success or failure of a company, team, or
individual.
Outline
Business priorities
Why is it important
Strategic thinking is the careful and deliberate
anticipation and exploitation of vulnerabilities and
threats to protect against, and opportunities to pursue.
Strategic thinking and analysis ultimately lead to a set of
goals, plans and new ideas that will allow you to thrive in
a changing, competitive environment. This type of
thinking must take into account economic realities,
market forces, as well as available resources.
Any organization can be affected by the changing
competitive landscape. You may need to be able to
capitalize on new trends quickly or you could fall
behind. You will be more adept at anticipating,
forecasting and capitalizing on opportunities if you
incorporate strategic thinking into your daily life and
work routines.
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These skills are called strategic thinking.
Analytical skills:
Problem solving skills:
Management and planning
skills:
In order to create a strategy that will
help your organization achieve its
goals, you need to be able analyze a
range of inputs, including financial
statements KPIs, market conditions,
emerging trends and internal
resource allocation. It is essential to
do this initial analysis in order to
create a strategy that matches the
current reality of your organization.
Strategic planning can be used to
address problems such as missing
financial targets, inefficient workflows
or a new competitor. To implement a
strategy that addresses your central
problem, you must first understand
the problem and the potential
solutions. You can then create a
strategy to solve it.
Strategy doesn't only involve
thinking about a solution, it also
involves the implementation of that
solution. After data analysis,
understanding of the problem, and
finding a solution, strong planning
and management skills are
required to bring it all together.
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Good Communication is Needed
Think Strategically with Resources
Communicate
Strategic thinking allows you to think strategically on
an individual level. It also helps you become more
important to your company and shows that you are
capable of managing greater resources.
Solid communication skills are essential for any
company regardless of size. Strategic thinking
requires the ability to communicate complex ideas,
collaborate and build consensus with external and
internal stakeholders.
Analytical Strategy, or Intuitive Strategy?
Overview
AS or IS?
My experience shows that there are at least two styles
of thinking managers use when developing their
strategy. Managers may prefer to think more intuitively,
while others prefer to think more analytically.
It is important to note that neither intuitive nor analytical is
the best. Each one is unique and each one is best suited
for a specific situation. Important to remember that
different personalities (as Myers Briggs will indicate) have
different personality "make-ups". Some people are
naturally intuitive while others are analytical. To elevate
one way of thinking above the other is to, perhaps, declare
a significant portion of human society superior to another.
This is something I'm not keen on.
Both styles have their strengths and weaknesses, so it is
important to recognize these. Managers may be able to
identify and combine these strengths, particularly where
they can overcome the weaknesses of each style, and find
more effective ways to address strategic issues by
combining both analytical and intuitive thinking.
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How can you improve your strategic
thinking skills?
Asking Questions
Mindset
Ask strategic questions - If you are looking to improve
your strategic thinking skills, it is easy to ask more
strategic questions. This will allow you to improve your
planning skills and help you spot opportunities. It also
allows you to develop a strategic mindset that you can
use throughout your career.
A strategic mindset can be developed by selfexploration, critical questions, and formal training,
regardless of whether it is for the long-term or shortterm.
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A strategic mindset means learning how to think, not
what to think. Even though you may not always know
the answers, strategic thinking skills will allow you to
see new opportunities and address emerging
challenges.
Our team
Anna
Larissa
Roman
Federico
CEO
CFO
COO
CTO
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Thank you
To develop great strategic thinking skills, you need to be
exposed to various roles and have the ability to synthesize
large amounts of information. High-potential and senior
leadership development programs often include job rotations
and cross-functional projects. This helps to accelerate the
development and application of strategic thinking.