Thinking strategically is no longer a required once-a-year activity as part of the annual strategy planning process. Today more than ever, the ability to execute strategy tactically is required, in addition to working and thinking strategically. Thinking strategically has become necessary at all levels to achieve success, both in the short and long term. The key is not only the individual capacity of people, but also the ability to involve other people in an ongoing strategic process.
Strategic thinking is a concept that has begun to make a career in the field of marketing, but it is perfectly applicable to other areas, in addition to business and work. In reality, it is a useful approach in virtually any area. Possessing a strategic mind, that is, acquiring a flexible and adaptive mentality to life, can be a very important weapon. In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to delve deeper into What is strategic thinking, its characteristics, some examples and how to apply it.
What is strategic thinking
Strategic thinking is defined as the approach that looks at today with a perspective for the future. In other words, it is a cognitive competence that allows us to anticipate the effect of actions, a long-term vision, creative and oriented towards achieving specific objectives. As the name suggests, strategic thinking involves a strategy: a coordinated plan of action focused on a relevant outcome.
When we talk about strategic thinking we refer to the following ideas:
- Think about the future, identify trends and design strategies for them.
- Understand the range of problems and variables that affect success in business and apply them to decision making.
- Recognize your vulnerable areas and competitive threats.
- Look into the future.
- Think globally.
What is the purpose of strategic thinking? Identify the criticalities that must be faced and the paths to follow to achieve the desired future. This passage answers the following question: What should I consider to achieve my goal?
Strategic thinking involves conceiving and selecting challenges that require action, those that do not provide predetermined solutions, then articulating these challenges in statements that appeal to imaginative thinking. Through strategic thinking, one remains open to go in several directions and consider a broader range of options.
Characteristics of strategic thinking
Strategic thinking is concrete and focuses on developing a direction or path to the future. It involves identifying critical issues that need to be addressed and finding a path forward toward the desired future.
An important affective competence that accompanies strategic thinking is awareness of the obstacles that separate us from our goal, defined as the ability to detect gaps. Strategic thinking makes us pay attention to the discrepancies between the current situation and what we want or need to achieve. This competence refers to the way in which implicit information is received and processed.
But strategic thinking is not learned from a manual. Many compare it to walking, swimming or riding a bicycle, since it is not something theoretical, but rather something learned and reinforced by practice. Let’s see what the characteristics of strategic thinking are, necessary to achieve the desired objectives, and how to develop it:
- Know where we want to go: There must be a clearly defined objective or purpose, otherwise any strategy is meaningless. Discover .
- Know where we are: It is necessary to have the ability to define what the current situation is and how far away the goal to be achieved is.
- Know how to define the path to follow: is the central point of the strategy. It’s about designing how to get to what we propose.
- Know how to self-evaluate and correct: Strategic thinking requires flexibility to constantly monitor what is done and be able to redefine the path.
Examples of strategic thinking
When we talk about strategic thinking, we can refer to multiple contexts. On the one hand, one of the most obvious situations that exemplifies this type of thinking is when a person wants to open their own company. You need to think, analyze and define a strategy that will lead you to achieve your objective, in this case, that your business is profitable and you can make a living from it. This entire process involves the use of strategic thinking.
On the other hand, in the personal sphere we also find examples how when a couple has to define their futureFor example, if you want to have children, where you want to live, where you want to go on vacation, etc. Ultimately, all of these circumstances require in-depth analysis and the use of strategic thinking to find the best way to achieve personal goals, whatever they may be.
How to apply strategic thinking
There are many ways to apply strategic thinking, from playing chess to launching daily hypotheses and testing them. However, for improve our strategic thinkingwe can ask ourselves the following questions:
- What can we do well?
- What could we still improve?
- How can we turn our strengths into opportunities?
- What obstacles do we face?
- How can I question the way we do things now?
- Who will be our competitors in five or ten years?
- How will people use our products/services in the next ten years?
- How will new technologies affect our business?
- What discoveries or trends that have emerged in other areas are or will be useful for our activity?
- How can political and economic changes influence our activity?
- When was the last time I took action to make a strategic vision a reality?
- Who should we work with to increase our competitive advantage?
In reality, strategic thinking can be applied in any professional or personal field, we just have to identify the aspect of our life that we want to improve and focus on a strategy to achieve it.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Mance, M., Murdock, M.C., Puccio, G.J. (2013). Creative leadership. Compete to guide the change. Milan: Franco Angeli.