What Does it Mean to Think Strategically?

10 Core Components of Thinking Strategically

In management and leaderships ranks, we often talk about the need to think and act strategically.  We even tell our employees to do the same thing.  But many managers struggle to explain what this really means or how employees can improve their strategic thinking skills. 

In truth, you can’t just tell your employees to be strategically minded.  It’s not like telling an employee to be more thorough when proof-reading their reports or to use less printer paper. 

While some staffers may naturally have a more strategic way of thinking, others – who are just as intelligent and capable – may prefer the details and the “here and now.”  Getting these employees to think more strategically can be tough and requires effective coaching from the manager.

So, what does the idea of thinking and acting strategically truly mean?  If you’re seeking to improve your own strategic thinking skills or coach an employee to develop theirs, you’re in the right place. We’re going to detail 10 pillars of strategic thinking and identify ways you can teach your employees the fundamental components of each.

Learning How to Coach My Employees on Strategic Thinking

I was 7 years old when I was first told I had an unusual thought process.  On the front of the standard report card form, my teacher checked a lot of boxes as “Needs Improvement.”  Most of them, in fact.  On the back, however, was my redeeming quality; she left a handwritten note that said: “Most students take what they see in front of them and apply it to other things.  You take things you’ve seen elsewhere and apply it to what you’re doing.”

Naturally, at that age, the notion of “thinking differently” wasn’t exactly something I wanted to boast about.  But it was a glimmer of hope for me following a long list of other things my teacher said I needed to work on.

Later, as I entered the workforce, I again ran into similar feedback.  During one of my first performance reviews, my boss commented on my thought process.  “You’re a strategic thinker” he said, without any further explanation.  As a young professional, I had no idea what this meant, nor what to do with this information.  I was simply trying to do my job.

It wouldn’t be until I started managing people and teams that I noticed some differences in how I typically thought through problems versus my how some of my employees did.  Without question, all my employees were brilliant and talented.  However, it seemed to me that some of them often ‘got stuck’ in the near-term and were held captive by the details (Admittedly, I’m not good at the details). 

Of course, it wasn’t that I was any better or smarter than they were, I just had a different way of looking at situations.  But, as their manager, it was my responsibility to improve results for our organization, an objective which required that I push my staff to think through problems in a more comprehensive manner. 

When trying to get my employees to think more strategically, I found myself using powerful words like calculated, visionary, predictive, deliberate, and purposeful.  And that is how I made the breakthrough.

So, What Does It Mean to Think Strategically?

As a basic definition, strategic thinking is the act of combining past experience with current parallels and expectations of future outcomes in order to improve near-term decision making.  It’s about simultaneously considering “what next” with the “here and now.”

The truth is that most of us think and act strategically in our personal lives all the time.  For example, think about how you decide to run errands.  Here are three examples which you can probably relate to:

• You want to get an early start to your errands on your day off, so you plan to make three stops according the order in which the stores open in the morning.
• You plan your sequence of errands according to traffic patterns to minimize the time you sit in rush hour.
• You create a plan to first drop items off at the donation center to free up space in your vehicle.  You then go to the hardware store to purchase materials for a home project you will do later that day.  You plan your last stop at the grocery store to ensure you can come straight home and put cold items in the refrigerator.

These simple scenarios illustrate how the strategic thought process involves planning a sequence of actions based on some key future variables. In this case, it’s about time, traffic, and efficiency.   

From a business standpoint, the concept of thinking and acting strategically is no different.