It’s time to don the strategic thinking cap

Till recently only top management were involved in strategic thinking. Not any longer. Organization the world over have realized that to counter economic turbulences like the on going recession, they cannot count on a few thinking heads alone.

They need creativity in abundance and therefore want everyone in the organization to explore the environment, spot new opportunities and make smart choices that generate benefits to the organization as whole. So don’t be surprised if your boss asks you to come up with innovative strategies to pep up revenues or control costs.

In fact strategic thinking is a new dimension added to all jobs irrespective of levels, thanks to the ever-increasing uncertainties in the business landscape.

Do you wonder what strategic thinking is all about and are clueless on how to start thinking strategically? Don’t worry. The words ‘strategic thinking’ no doubt sounds daunting, but in reality they are only an extension to the thought process you already go through while discharging your duties at work. All you need to do is to broaden your outlook continuously. Strategic thinking is about analyzing opportunities and problems from a broader perspective and taking a holistic approach to day-to-day issues and challenges. Going forward, to grow professionally it is not simply sufficient to meet all the goals and objectives set by your boss; you must also exhibit the capabilities to set new goals for yourself!

Here are some basics that will help you to get started.

Get trends: First of all, you must cultivate a genuine interest in what is happening in your division, company, industry as well as the wider business environment. Continuously interact with others in order to stay current on the developments taking place in your unit, company and also across the industry. You must also update your knowledge of current and future trends by reading books, magazines, industry reports, attending seminars and talking to experts. This will help you to find new opportunities to exploit and also dispel any potential threats before they actually harm your organization.

Shift gears: The next thing you must do is to enhance your flexibility. This helps you to quickly embrace new approaches by shifting gears when new knowledge makes it a necessity. Start scanning the environment for any likely changes in the conditions in which your unit or company operates both in the short and long term. Reassess your competition and also your customer base. Finding out what your customers truly value helps you to design new means of winning their favour. Also knowledge about how your competitors are faring and where they are falling short helps you to create better plans for your organization.

Collect ideas: Since strategic thinking is all about taking the bigger picture into consideration, you must work non-stop to broaden your horizons and gather new knowledge.

For this you must welcome new ideas from all quarters. Collect ideas from supervisors, peers, subordinates and also other stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and business partners. This helps you to broaden your knowledge and also spot connections between seemingly unrelated fields of knowledge leading to discovery of new opportunities and trends.

Last but not the least is to develop a positive attitude. You must view challenges as opportunities and believe that success is possible.

Once you practice these basics you have all the makings of a strategic thinker.

Before you start using your strategic thinking skills you must acquire knowledge about the high level strategies of your own organization. Speak with your colleagues, boss or other higher-ups to seek clarifications.

Read company publications, annual reports and also listen carefully to executive speeches to get a feel of the corporate strategy.

Then use your understanding of this strategy to ensure that your activities support it.

If gathering data is the first phase of strategic thinking, using the information to generate results forms the crucial final phase. In this phase you must categorise related information into patterns.

Then visualize new possibilities, question your assumptions and generate alternatives. As strategic thinking is an on going process and not a one-time event you should always be open to new information. Also learn to tale criticism in the right spirit.

This helps you to understand the cause and effect relationships among the various components of the system better. Then you will be able to objectively analyse the pros and cons of every situation and make smart choices.

With this background knowledge you become confident enough and understand that strategic thinking is not that difficult after all. So put on your strategic thinking cap now and embark on a long journey of discovering opportunities of growth for yourself and the organization.

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Environments & man

Some develop kinship with Nature in all its manifestations; birds, plants, stones become his companions. But our deep interest in this earth should not be for itself but as a fir home for human beings. One cannot be truly human and civilized unless one looks upon not only fellow men all creations with the ye of a friend.

Emperor Ashoka’s edicts carved on rock and Iron pillars defined the king’s duties; king is not only a protector of citizen, a punishing authority for the wrong doers but also a preserver of animal life and forest trees. He was the first and perhaps the only monarch until very recently to forbid the killing of a large number of the species of animals for sport or food. He went further regretting the can age of his military congests and enjoining upon his successors to find, “their only pleasure in the peace that comes through righteousness.

In India-in spite of Ashoka’s- we have been guilty of wanton disregard for the source of out sustenance. There is a rapid deterioration of flora and fauna. Some wild life has been wiped out; miles of forest with beautiful old tree- mute witness of history-have been destroyed. Though out industrial development is in its infancy still it has been responsible for serious environmental imbalances. As a result, of it even human beings are imperiled.

It is sad that in country after country progress should be come synonymous with an assault on nature. We who are part of nature and dependent on her for every need speak constantly about ‘exploiting’ Nature. When the highest mountain the world was climbed in 1953, Mr. Nehru objected to the phrase “Conquest of Everest”, which he thought was arrogance. When Edward Thompson, a British writer told Mr. Gandhi that the wild life was fast disappearing the latter replied “It is decreasing in the jungle but it is increasing the towns”.

The environmental problems of the developing countries are not the side-effects of excessive industrialization but reflect the inadequacy of development. The rich countries look upon development as the course of environmental destruction but to us it is one of the primary means of improving the environment for living or providing food water, sanitation and shelter of making the deserts green and mountains habitable. It is a matter of common observation that, however much a man hankers after material goods he can never get full satisfaction. The higher standards of living can be achieved without despoiling Nature of its beauty, freshness and purity-so essential to our life.

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