Strategic Thinking
Why? What we do. What we provide. When to learn. Our work.
Why?
Strategic thinking, which is the ability to consider the organization in the context of its changing internal and external environments and gain practical insights, too often happens only as part of the strategic planning cycle. It is most useful, however, when it becomes an ingrained organizational capability.
What we do:
We design and deliver customized learning sessions about strategic thinking.
- A simple, but robust framework for understanding the discipline of strategic thinking;
- A simulated organizational environment for practicing the thinking;
- A set of practical tools to apply to one’s real organizational context;
- Customizable exercises for making one’s strategic environment visible.
- When the environment is fast-paced and strategic plans have a short shelf life;
- When strategy as a one-time event is no longer sufficient;
- When focusing on tactical pressures is eliminating a focus on the strategic;
- When a series of decisions play out in significantly unanticipated ways;
- When a number of unchallenged assumptions constrain creative responses.
- For the executive team of a North American logistics company, a two day strategic thinking “boot camp” in which they learned and practiced the discipline of strategic thinking and then applied it to their company and industry;
- For senior managers within Health Canada, we designed a variety of strategic thinking experiences to help make sense of their strategic landscape;
- For a global technology company, we designed a course for managers integrating strategic thinking and innovation practices;
- For managers in a four-day leadership experience at a Pharma company, we delivered a focused strategic thinking workshop to help them understand not only how to engage “the big picture" but also how to better communicate their strategic landscape to others.
