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The ‘strategy thing’ Can strategic thinking be learned? Sure, if you know where to start and are mindful of the mileposts along the way.
H alfway through a two-day strategic planning retreat, a senior leadership team member nervously pulled me aside to make a painful confession. “I just can’t think strategically. I’m really good at running projects, but this strategy thing . . .”
customer relationship. While important, it misses a vital opportunity. The strategic thinker looks beyond repairing the individual customer relationship to ask, “What might be missing in our system that is causing this recurrence?” Therein lies the difference. “In my work with leaders and strategy over many years, I have observed that if you cannot crack open the door by demystifying the concept of strategy, any attempt to swing the door wider fails.”
Yes, that “strategy thing.” For many leaders, “strategy” is a thing from another planet. It lands during an offsite when one of those nasty consultants says, “Let’s create our strategic goals.” Or, it appears during a performance review, where you hear the words, “You have to move beyond the tactical. We need forward thinking strategies that take us into the future.” “Forward thinking. . . Ummm . . .” The lights dim, and the “strategy thing” zooms back into space, leaving the leader stuck on the ground. There are those for whom strategic thinking comes as naturally as breathing. Converting a current situation into a future opportunity arrives effortlessly. If a customer complains repeatedly that your product directions are obscure, the nonstrategic thinker focuses on repairing the
Julie Benezet GUEST SPEAKER
See JULIE BENEZET, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 2, 2017, ISSUE 1218
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