Key locating questions
Here are some key strategic questions that face corporate executives and organizations throughout the business world:
These are fundamental questions, essential to consider in light of the global reality we find ourselves in. This article is not designed to address them in detail, but rather attempt to lift the curtain and open the door to a very important territory of training.
If you are aware of the significance of strategic thinking then you are not ignoring or avoiding reality and I commend you for that, as it places you in a conscious location from which you can make some very important decisions.
Changes-they are everywhere
It has become clear that old ways of thinking will no longer suffice as the demanding pressures in workload dramatically increase (often caused by corporate downsizing, time pressures, growth requirements). A glaring example would be the issue of internal communication and big picture inclusion of employees of all strata of the company. This all-important sense of belonging is absolutely essential for employees to have and understand the overall strategy of the company- to be included in the big picture!
Without such inclusion employees tend to avoid taking responsibility while developing a checklist mentality that will only follow instructions. This of course highlights the need for attention to the all-important area of mistakes and whether a company is stuck in old ways of thinking or adopted to the paradigm shift that promote excellence in its workforce.
Managers and employees with managerial aspirations need to have an overall view of the direction of the company, which will increase their sense of responsibility, feeling of belonging and productivity. It therefore requires companies to rethink their communication strategy within the organization hierarchy to allow futuristic thinking to have a place and to create an ecology that promotes collectivity.
New communication paradigm: Well-informed employees are essential to a long-term success of an organization! Information transparency is a symptom of a healthy working ecology.
Paradigm shift & change of attitude
Our world is in the midst of a 'paradigm shift revolution', as old ideas crumble one by one.
Here is an example in the organizational level; Old style leadership of dictating rules from above is rapidly becoming obsolete and team leadership is taking its place! This represents a huge shift in thinking and requires a kind of training that integrates hard skills with soft skills on a broad scale.
One of the most important soft skills is the ability to think strategically and develop the mind-set that can do so. The ability to think strategically requires an ecology that supports it. Another words it is only a part of a much broader picture.
It is important to understand that among leading organizations the attitude towards training and coaching of thinking skills has undergone a major paradigm shift. It is no longer viewed as a luxury, or a one-time formula that one gets and tucks in their bag of skills but rather an ongoing development feature that has to be constantly worked on, invested in and updated.
It is indeed becoming a prerequisite to ongoing corporate and individual productivity, crucial in changing times.
Time to appreciate Thinking, can you think strategically?
Experience shows that the term Strategic Thinking tends to intimidate and cause apprehension in most people as the majority seem to assume that it is either too difficult a subject to deal with or that they can't measure up, having reached their ultimate performance levels.
This is a very inaccurate assumption in most cases!
The evidence is that with training, practice and continued maintenance most people can acquire strategic skills that help them improve their overall performance, skill application and self-confidence.
This however requires a paradigm shift in thinking where the subject begins to receive the attention it deserves!
Fact: The caliber of thinking determines the outcome of any business ventures undertaken. Thinking is at the core of all future decisions and actions that will be undertaken by individuals and organizations.
In other words, how we think about anything is the 'eye of the hurricane' that will determine the direction and course of action that an individual or a corporation will take, where minor few alterations at the core can make a huge impact on the direction and the outward manifestation. To be more emphatic, the quality of thinking we apply determines the eventual result of the endeavors we take!
Thinking is a science while conscious thinking is an advanced science, which does not lend itself necessarily to commonality of the adult life that we are accustomed to. Its great potential is mostly unexplored and therefore with the right kind of training great advances are possible in the vast majority of people- and if you don’t think so when you read these words, well, this is part of the problem of thinking, it cannot be measured by the past, or what one thinks of their capabilities and it cannot even be measured by machines.
It can however be measured by human indicators such as the ability to think rationally under pressure, the ability to maintain a positive attitude that impacts the environment, the ability to be creative and think truly out of the box, the ability to think strategically and tactically, the ability to have vision and so much more.
Supportive corporate atmosphere
It is essential to have the perception that the corporate environment has to support futuristic thinking and create a climate that facilitates the thinking skills that are mentioned above. Without a supportive corporate ecology, long-term progress and advancement would be impaired.
The ingredients of such environment must be learned, practiced and adhered to, all the way from the top of the corporate ladder downward, affecting the whole corporate structure.
It needs to be understood, therefore, that strategic thinking capabilities are a symptom of an organization that has consciously decided to position itself in the forefront of evolution, by willingly adopting to new paradigms, now appearing everywhere.
Strategic thinking benefits
The long-term benefits of an organization that invests in developing the thinking skills of its work force outweigh the costs by large measures. The side effects of the training are numerous and include increase of employee satisfaction, improved productivity, family atmosphere in the work place, decreased employee turnover and more. This proposes core, long-term changes as strategic thinking training deals with causes rather then symptoms. (Curing symptoms never solves the problem). Therefore, the attitude of expecting quick results by learning a few formulas should be avoided. There is no 'quick way to enlightenment', we all know that but we still hope for it. There is however a steady, well-balanced and practical journey of development that yields long-term results and can make a huge positive difference in the culture of the company, in the productivity of the employees and ultimately, of course, in revenues.
The training of strategic thinking can be likened to an onion that has many layers; each one, by being pilled off, will reveal the one beneath it. In the same way that over time, strategic thinking training will reveal the many areas that require attention and development within the corporate structure.
Finally
Strategic thinking is a wide and varied territory that encompasses within it many thinking skills. Thinking strategically is not some dry boring way of thinking, it is a creative, live and powerful skill that energizes processes between people and make the person and their organization prepared and 'ready at the point' for the unknown future!
On a personal level having a strategic mind-set and learning to form strategies is a matter of continued training and development until it becomes a second nature, which will increase personal effectiveness, Improve confidence and develop charisma.
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