Is Strategic Thinking Dead? 5 Ways To Think Better For An Uncertain Future

Strategic thinking is critical to business success and career success, but plenty of people will admit concern that strategic thinking may be going the way of the dinosaurs. It’s a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity—a VUCA world—and it’s easy to get caught in reactive responses and a feeling that longer-term and strategic thinking just aren’t possible.

But strategic thinking is still critical, even with shorter time horizons. All the characteristics that make strategic thinking more challenging are what make it that much more important. The ability to think strategically will help you manage in challenging times, and it will enhance your career—especially as it becomes a more uncommon skill.

What Is Strategic Thinking Really

In many ways, ‘strategic thinking’ has lost meaning because it’s become just another term in the business jargon jungle. But true strategic thinking is the ability to imagine future conditions, consider multiple ways of succeeding, assess them and create plans to take action. And a big part of strategic thinking is also agility—planning for a set of conditions and then having the ability to shift quickly when things change.

You can think of strategic thinking as chess thinking—before you make your move, you’re considering all the different plays your opponent might choose, and how you’ll respond in turn—and you choose your next action based on what will set you up for future moves.

Strategic thinking is distinguished from tactical thinking because it takes a longer view rather than reacting to events as they happen. It pushes you to be proactive in your actions, rather than reactive. And even in the addressing the immediate, strategic thinking can actually increase your effectiveness—because your advanced planning will have given you the opportunity to explore potential situations, assess responses and judge outcomes—and these can prepare you for how you react when you have less runway.

One of the most popular strategic thinking frameworks is from Roger Martin. You need a winning aspiration and purpose for yourself or the organization, followed by clarity about where you’ll play (ex. markets, customers, profession or career), how you’ll win (unique value proposition, competitive advantage), the capabilities you’ll need and the management systems to support all of it.

You Can Do It

Interesting research has found people are actually better at strategic thinking than was previously believed, according to a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. And a very cool study published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience found when you do more strategic thinking, you actually enhance your general cognitive capabilities. Complex reasoning, critical thinking, divergent and convergent thinking apparently stretch and enhance the brain’s function.

In addition, you can learn strategic thinking, based on a study published in Behavioral Science in Perspective. Here’s how you can enhance and nurture your strategic thinking.

#1 – Be Purpose-Driven

One of the hallmarks of a strategic thinker is clarity of purpose. Be sure you’re clear about where you want to go—as an individual, a team or a business. Know your true north because it will help you choose wisely among multiple options. The language you choose to describe where you want to be (or how you understand a challenge) will constrain or create possibilities, so also be careful about how you describe your intentions.

If your purpose is to unleash human potential for students, that will likely take you farther than a goal to simply provide great classroom experiences. Or if your purpose is to tackle the toughest issues facing communities by mobilizing every resource, partner and voice to solve those challenges (as it is for the United Way), it will point to different choices than if you’re just trying to provide helpful services to the underserved in your community.

If you’re thinking strategically about your family or your career, keep your purpose, your why and your priorities top of mind. This focus will guide how you spend your time and energy. And if you’re applying your strategic thinking for your team, remind yourself and others of your purpose so you have a true north for your choices and decisions.

#2 – Be Curious

Another key way to think strategically is to be ever-curious. Seek information and set up listening posts—with research you follow or channels you tune into. Be sure to include sources which agree with your current views as well as those which are in contrast to your own thinking—so you can stay aware of all kinds of diverse perspectives.

Ask questions and seek advice from others. Observe what’s happening in all kinds of contexts. Do your research and seek to know and understand as much as you can. Also be honest with yourself about your strengths, limitations and greatest opportunities based on understanding what’s happening around you.

Understand the trends in work and in your field, so you can guide your career strategically. And bring new research and perspectives to your team regularly, so you can be attuned and ready to respond. Talk with customers about what they value about working with you and about the problems they face which are unaddressed.

#3 – Explore

Another aspect of strategic thinking is to explore and consider plenty of options. Brainstorm, be creative and consider alternatives and opposing ideas. Also identify places where you can experiment, test and try—taking calculated risks to inform your bigger choices and decisions.

Consider all the ways your profession or your role could evolve over time, especially with the new technology on the horizon and give thought to how you can learn new skills or try new methods. If you’re working on a sales strategy to penetrate a new account or a new market, think expansively about possibilities which are brand new. Regularly engage your teammates in exploring new ideas and experimenting with how to do things differently and find new ways to solve the same old problems.

#4 – Push

Also be courageous in pushing for what might be better, next or more. Don’t just accept the status quo or spend time in perfecting what others already know or do well. Look for the next opportunity which will reinvent or reimagine the solution to a problem. Push for clarity in how you’ll stand out from your competitors and go beyond incremental improvements to efficiencies—to what’s new and next.

Push yourself to imagine what’s next in your personal and professional life. Ask yourself what’s working, but also use what’s not working as a springboard for new ideas and opportunities. Give your teammates permission to disagree, debate and dialogue (constructively, of course) and to challenge each other to achieve better quality thinking and processing.

#5 – Invest

Be intentional about thinking strategically. Put aside small tasks and take time to think about the bigger picture and the long term. Create opportunities for this thinking time both individually and for your team. In addition, empower people around you to think more strategically so they can contribute to more creative ideas for a longer time horizon.

Set aside time to think, ponder and wonder. Put away devices and stop notifications so you can be quiet and reflective—and energized as you’re considering what could be next or different.

Embracing the Future

The future promises to be very different than the present, and as the saying goes, “If you’re not afraid, you’re not paying attention.” Anxiety can certainly be a characteristic of moving forward in a VUCA world, but you can also prepare yourself and enhance your ability to respond in the short term by thinking long term and with a strategic lens.