Developing strategic thinking throughout your organisation
How developing strategic thinking can lead to long-term sustainable growth for businesses and the people that work within them.
A recent study conducted by Chief Executive Magazine stated that strategic thinking is recognised as today's most valuable leadership skill. However, only 4-7% of leaders are considered strategic, greatly impacting the ambitions of many organisations, half of whom recognise they need to improve in this area.
The need to enhance strategic thinking is supported by Robert Kabacaff, Vice President of Research at Management Research Group. In his HBR.org article titled 'Develop Strategic Thinkers Throughout Your Organisation', he states that strategic thinking is the single most important skill a leader needs, and that ‘study after study show that strategic thinkers are found to be among the most highly effective leaders’.
What exactly is strategic thinking and why do businesses struggle to develop their leaders in this way?
According to the Institute of Project Management, strategic thinking is the combination of analytical and creative thinking, both skills that the World Economic Forum has listed alongside leadership as the most important skills companies require both now and in the future.
Used as a way of navigating uncertainty to make long-term and well-informed decisions, strategic thinkers effectively straddle these two worlds, anticipating future trends and action planning effectively.
So, if we know how important it is, what it is and what it enables, the obvious question to ask is why do so many businesses struggle to develop this critical skill among it’s leaders.
Using a real-time learning experience with real-world examples.
The problem; says Paul Surridge of Target Leadership Consulting, is that there is too much emphasis placed on training and education, and not enough focus on real-world development and experience.
He says, ‘true proficiency in strategic thinking, as with other skills, is best developed through genuine, hands-on opportunities. Involving individuals in meaningful strategic projects that have a direct impact with potential consequences should be real, not hypothetical’.
He continued, ‘too many organisations wait until leaders are in a strategic role before they support the development of their leadership capabilities. A much better solution is to develop relevant leadership skills, such as strategic thinking, much earlier in people’s career. One highly effective way of doing this is to present them with hands-on, real-world experiences’.
Using strategy as a process to develop strategic thinking.
This is where the process of strategy itself can be used to great effect. Working collaboratively, and often in a creative way, using the intelligence of their people and the data they've captured through various activities, strategy encourages people to assess, discuss and agree on where they can outperform their competition.
As Robert Kaffmann says, it’s not only the people at the top that need to be trained in strategic thinking. Again, this is where executing the strategy can be used as a real-time learning tool to encourage people from across the business to consider the implications and outcomes of their actions.
Aligning people’s day-to-day with strategy.
Furthermore, as initiatives and workstreams are agreed, senior leaders can work with their teams to see how their skills and knowledge can be best applied to achieve the desired goals. Empowering people in this way not only increases engagement and productivity, it's also a great way to build a healthy and supportive culture where people can align their day-to-day activity with the bigger, strategic picture.
As more small and medium sized businesses look at ways of achieving their own ambitions, focussing on using strategy to develop and enhance leadership capability through strategic thinking can provide a real-world learning experience that sustains growth for businesses and the people within them.
