Strategic Thinking: Part Two

Let’s review the process:

1. Something concerns you. Some challenge, hurdle, obstacle, opportunity, chance…
2. You frame the concern. You begin the process of considering the concern.
3. You consider possible solutions to the concern. You think of a possible course of action.
4. You consider the possible consequences to the various choices of action. You look into the future to see what might happen if you act one way versus another.
5. You decide on the best course of action. You take it. And then you reflect on it.

Are all people able to comprehend this process?
Can this process be mastered by everybody?

I’m intrigued with the notion that some people simply fail to implement this process because they don’t see it. This process is either impossible or difficult for them to fully understand. They may not see the value of it, or they may not understand how to make it happen in their life.

Everybody has things that concern them. Surely that’s universal. That means everybody should make it through the first step.

Now we come to step number 2. This is where I see things getting rocky for some people. They don’t frame the concern. They refuse to consider the concern. You’ve heard people say, “I’d rather not think about it.” Maybe you’ve heard yourself say that, but I hope not. This is a sheer refusal to progress toward step two. Any refusal to go to step two is sure to derail any hopes of successful strategic thinking.

But, assuming you’ve engaged in step 2 you’re now faced with thinking of possible solutions. That is, you begin to consider the possible actions you might take. What are the various choices you’ve got?

Again, I know people who refuse to engage in this step. Some people make up their mind without serious consideration. They go from step 1 to step 5 (except their action isn’t always the best and they’ll rarely reflect). They simply jump from concern to action. This doesn’t often work out well.

Step four is critical. Perhaps this step kills more wisdom than any other. People are often unable to project the future results if they fail to consider the positive and negative outcomes of their available choices. Wise people can see the future - or the prospect of what the future might be. That’s an enormous contribution to their wisdom. The foolish usually trudge forward never stopping to consider what might result. I guess they just hope things work out. It would explain their reaction when things don’t work out. “I’m just not lucky.” “I’m just cursed.” “See, things never work out for me.”

This step, step four, might be better considered as the “what if” step. What if I take this course of action? What if I take this other course? Answer the question as fully as you can. Nobody expects you to be a soothsayer, but you can surely predict some possible outcomes. That’s what must be considered so you’ll know which direction is more worthwhile.

Step 5 is only possible because of the prior steps. Strategic thinking isn’t merely being quick to act. Some confuse that with being proactive or decisive. No, it’s foolish. Nothing more. While it’s possible to compress these steps into short time periods, each step is crucial to success. You can’t skip a step any more than you can skip an ingredient in a recipe - you’ll mess up if you do.

Step five comes only after weighing the options and carefully considering the risks and rewards of each choice. Some risks are minimal and rewards are clearly high - easy choice. Other risks are high, but rewards are equally high. Tougher choice. I’m not saying every concern (a concern can be a threat or an opportunity) requires hours or days of meditation. Some are no-brainers, but still the process must be followed. Strategic thinkers always apply the process - even if the process takes mere minutes for smaller choices. Non-strategic thinkers never apply the process. They always skip steps, driven by their first gut desire (I suppose; I’m not really certain what drives them to make the choices they make).