Strategic Thinking Inter-Connected Consulting Paul Dannar
Strategic Thinking
Inter-ConnectedConsulting
Paul Dannar
Strategic Thinking
•Today’s Agenda
•What is Strategic Thinking?•From Planning to Strategic Thinking•Questions Should Lead to More than Answers •Strategic Thinking as a Competency•Influencing the Environment
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• What is Strategic Thinking Anyway?
– Designed to be Flexible enough to adapt to the Unknowable
– Makes Several Assumptions about Organizations and how they Interact with the External Environment
Ambiguity and Complexity are the Norm
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• From Planning to Strategic Thinking
– Planning is a Management Paradigm
– Strategic Thinking aligns with Leadership
– A Learning Paradigm
A Never Ending Process
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• Let’s try our Hand at Strategic Thinking
•Activity
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• Questions Should Lead to More than Answers
– Asking the Right Types of Questions
– Visioning the Future
– Strategic Vision
Wisdom Leads to A Vision for Future
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Strategic Thinking Cycle
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– Individual
• Understand how Different Problems and Issues are Interconnected
• Creativity• A Vision of the Future for The Organization
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– Individual
– Understand how Different Problems and Issues are Interconnected
• Bi-Focal Vision
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– Individual
– Creativity
• A New Way of Looking at the External Environment
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– Individual
– A Vision of the Future for The Organization
• Everyone Must Understand why the Organization is in Existence
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– As an Organization
• Foster Strategic Dialogue
• Take advantage of each Individual’s Ingenuity and Creativity
Systems, Structures and Culture
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– As an Organization
– Foster Strategic Dialogue
• Communication: Lateral, Top-Down, Bottom-Up, Virtual, Face-to-Face, Any other way you can Think of
Systems, Structures and Culture
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• Strategic Thinking as a Competency
– As an Organization
– Take advantage of each Individual’s Ingenuity and Creativity
• The Ingenuity and Creativity of People is a Gift
Systems, Structures and Culture
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• Strategic Thinking in Action?
•Activity IIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
feature=player_detailpage&v=C2YZnTL596Q
Adapt to Chaos
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• Influencing the External Environment
– A Single Predictable Future does NOT Exist
• Influence Rather than Control • Accept Risk as a Factor in Decision Making
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• The Overall Objective
– It is not a Plan
– The Catalyst to Consider New Possibilities
Idea Creation
Inter-ConnectedConsulting REFERENCES
– Bell, C.R. (2002). Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
– Boal, K. & Hooijberg, R. (2001). Strategic Leadership Research: Moving On. Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 34.
– Bonn, I. (2001). Developing strategic thinking as a core competency. Management Decision, 39(1), 8.Holstius, K. & Malaska, P. (2004). Advancing Strategic Thinking: Visionary Management. Publications of the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, 66.
– Fink, A., & Marr, B. (2005). The future scorecard: combining external and internal scenarios to create strategic foresight. Management Decision, 43(3), 22.
– Howard, Ron, dir. Apollo 13 . YouTube, 1995. Film. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q>.
– Liedtke, J. (1998). Strategic Thinking: Can it be Taught? Long Range Planning, 31(1), 10.– Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. & Lampel, J. (2005). Strategy safari: A guided tour through
the wilds of strategic management. New York: The Free Press.– Rezaian, A. (2008). Fundamentals of Organization and Management. Tehran: Samt.– Stumpf, S. (1989). Work Experiences that Stretch Managers’ Capacities for Strategic
Thinking. Journal of Management Development, 8(5), 8.