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ST-Are You Strategic
ST-Are You Strategic
I was thrown out of college for cheating on the strategy skills required to take your business to
metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy the next level?
sitting next to me.
Wood y Allen Ten Strategic Thinking Competencies
To rem ove the guessw ork from the issue of
Until now , looking into som eone’s soul is about d eterm ining the level of a m anager’s strategy
the only w ay w e’ve had to guess at w hether or skills, research w as conducted to id entify the
not som eone is “strategic.” When the question tangible com petencies that com prise strategic
“Are you strategic?” is posed , it’s usually thinking. As d eterm ined by the research, the ten
answ ered by the follow ing people in the strategic thinking com petencies are as follow s:
follow ing w ays: 1. Strategy—m astering the three criteria of
o Senior executives confidently reply “yes”; great strategy.
o Mid -level m anagers squirm a bit w ith som e 2. Insight—generating new id eas about the
saying “yes” and others “no”, d epend ing on business.
w ho else is in the room ; 3. Context—m atching competencies w ith
o Entry-level m anagers respond “no” so as not opportunities.
to be seen as overconfid ent by upper 4. Competitive Advantage—creating d istinct
m anagem ent. offerings w ith superior value.
5. Value—d eterm ining the benefits/ costs of
As you m ight im agine, strictly using som eone’s one’s offerings.
title to d etermine their strategic ability is as 6. Resource Allocation—decid ing w here to
accurate as using a H ollyw ood star’s popularity focus capital, talent and tim e.
to d eterm ine their know led ge of political issues. 7. Modeling—visually capturing the essence of
I’ve heard entry-level m anagers in strategy business issues.
d evelopm ent m eetings synthesize several 8. Innovation—creating new value for
custom er and com petitor facts to com e up w ith custom ers.
brilliant insights leading to successful strategies. 9. Purpose—d eveloping m ission, vision and
I’ve also heard a senior level executive running a values.
m ulti-billion d ollar business say that their 10. Mental Agility—ability to im provise, ad apt
strategy w as to be d ifferent, w hich is akin to and excel through adversity .
saying that they like their w ater w et. So if title
and experience are not definitive m easures of The ten com petencies w ere then used to d evelop
one’s strategic thinking skills, then w hat is? a Strategic Thinking Assessm ent. The assessm ent
is a 50 question d iagnostic that provid es an
The answ er to the question “Are you Strategic?” objective assessm ent of m anager’s strategic
isn’t nearly as im portant as the follow up thinking skills. Questions are grouped into the
question: How do you know? H ow d o you really ten com petencies of strategic thinking in ord er to
know if you or your fellow m anagers have the provid e a clear picture of the exact areas of
d evelopm ental need s. Follow ing
Rich Horwath helps managers develop their strategic thinking skills to achieve competitive advantage and
reach their leadership potential. He is the president of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a former Chief Strategy
Officer and professor of strategy at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Rich is the author of
Sculpting Air: The Executive’s Guide to Shaping Strategy and frequently speaks to organizations on strategy.
Rich can be reached at (847) 756-4707, email rich@strategyskills.com or visit www.strategyskills.com
Copyright © 2006. Strategic Thinking Institute. All rights reserved. 2