Here’s a look back, in no particular order, at the top 80 articles I wrote about innovation:…
Tag Archives: strategic thinking
Powerful Strategic Thinking technique for non-strategic thinkers
in Leadership, Strategy, Thinking
How can you get better at strategic thinking? Or in other words, “How do you improve your thought process?” One of the keys to becoming a great leader is to constantly improve your strategic thinking, so you can adjust to new global realities.
The first step is to accept that you are not right most of the time. You have to “constantly” question your own opinions. One way to do this is to surround yourself with people who don’t think like you. People who will question you. Make these people a key part of your team because what you don’t want is to be surrounded by YES men.
Another tip is learn game theory. Game theory is the study of strategic decision making. And strategic thinking is all about making better decisions. Game theory provides you tools to help you gain added perspective to generate alternative views. If you have added perspective, you’ll be able to anticipate and think critically about what may lay ahead; which are key strategic thinking habits.
Anyway, here a few simple and cost-effective ways to begin developing your strategic thinking ability:…
Tactics are superficial, strategy is deep
in Leadership, Strategy
Here’s the question posed on yesterday’s #bizforum chat.
Apple is OFTEN used as a case study for how biz can & should grow, yet it’s always a one-off. Few compare. Why?#bizforum
— Sam Fiorella (@samfiorella) October 11, 2012
My answer: Because, as always, everyone copies tactics. Not strategy.
Apple’s strategy is unique to them. Their reason for existing is theirs alone. And their tactics are aligned with that strategy. More importantly, their type of leadership, based on principles of excellence and artistic perfection; is laser focused on executing their strategy.
Who else thinks and acts that way? Not many.…
Strategy starts with identifying changes
in competition, Strategy
Pay attention to this McKinsey Quarterly interview of Richard Rumelt, professor of strategy at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management:…
An analogy for using the Blue Ocean Strategy framework
If you’re a strategy guy, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Blue Ocean approach to strategy, where you set out to create new value by not competing but rather creating and capturing new demand (new market) where you’re the only guy holding the flag.
In a nutshell, here’s what Blue Ocean Strategy proposes:
Sounds pretty damn good. But, the problem is it’s difficult to imagine and do. Worse yet, is it’s difficult to understand if you’re someone who’s not a CEO, strategist, consultant or marketer. To tackle this problem, I thought I’d uncover the hidden truth behind some of the key ideas of the approach.…
Beat your competitors by working outside their experience
What is not different, is not strategic.
This past weekend I went to Ninjutsu camp (Otompo) for two days of training and war. First we train with some training weapons and at night we play war games that are meant to test our creative and strategic thinking as well as our hand to hand combat skills all under the light of the moon.…
What is strategy?
in Strategy
What’s wrong with strategy? So many definitions, so much complexity. Nobody really knows what strategy really is.
So, what is strategy?
To me strategy is not pursuing a detailed plan step by step, it is finding or creating options that give me an advantage at any moment.
Let me explain why:
The world is full of people looking for a secret formula to success and power. They don’t want to think on their own; they just want the recipe to follow. For this very reason they are attracted to the idea of strategy.
In their minds strategy is a series of steps to be followed toward a goal. They want these steps spelled out for them by some expert or guru. Believing in the power of imitation, they want to know what others have done before. Their maneuvers in life are as mechanical as their thinking. They are predictable.
The essence of strategy is not to carry out a brilliant plan that proceeds in steps; it is to put yourself in situations where you have more options than everyone else. Instead of going for A as the single right answer, true strategy is positioning yourself to be able to do A, B or C depending on the situation.
Our society values people who have the right answer but in reality there is no single right answer, there are many. At any moment one approach can be better than the other, being aware of this is what separates true strategists from the one’s following a game plan.
Do you agree? What’s your definition of strategy? This is an important topic, let’s get a discussion going!
