5 Ways to Develop Your Strategic Thinking Skills
I could recall the last time I was part of a strategic planning meeting for an organisation I used to work for. We were trying to figure out new ways to improve the brand visibility, campaign marketing, and operational processes for the organisation. I made a couple of insightful contributions during that meeting, and offered compelling ideas and plot of action. I was an active participant in the conversation, but I also remember struggling few times to communicate my ideas in a more practicable manner.
Thinking about it today, I realised this is where strategic thinking skills becomes important.
Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value for your organisation. It is among the most highly sought-after management competencies. Why? Because employees capable of critical and strategic thinking have a chance to make credible impact on a business’s growth trajectory.
With the right mindset and practice, you can improve your strategic thinking skills.
Here are 5 ways to improve your strategic thinking skills so next time you’re involved in an organisational meeting, you can ensure your contributions are documented for future reference.
1. Be Proactive: Take initiative to do things before you're asked to. Understanding strategic thinking is all about preparing for the future.
2. Ask Strategic Questions: One simple thing you can do is ask more strategic questions. By doing so, you exercise your planning skills, and become adept at spotting opportunities.
It’s also important that your questions apply to your role and responsibilities so you can act on them.
3. Constantly Optimise: No matter what project or piece of work you’re tasked with, always look for ways to optimise and improve on your result or solution. Strategic thinking is all about being adaptable and ambitious simultaneously. Ensure everything you work on generates maximum value.
4. Study Widely and Stay Informed about Current Events: This will help you to understand the broader context in which you are making decisions.
5. Understand Counter Arguments: It would be unusual for a strategic thinker to believe that their ideas alone are always right. Developing an understanding and appreciation of opposing ideas, opinions or arguments will develop your strategic thinking skills by creating an understanding of the whole picture. The more you explore alternative arguments, the easier you’ll find seeing projects and ideas holistically will become.
Strategic thinking is a way of approaching the fundamental drivers of a business and challenging conventional thinking. It’s a key skill required if you have any intention of climbing the corporate ladder, so start working on your strategic thinking skills today.
Reference: robert half (2023). Strategic Thinking(skills)
tim stobierski (2020). Havard business school online
effective government (2023). Part of the HopgoodGanim Advisory Group
