Starting Point for Strategic Thinking: A Good Question
There’s no shortage of advice on how to think strategically—current blog authors included. To be fair, there’s value in almost every piece of this advice. But regardless of which approach you choose; all methods should start the same way: with a good question.
There’s no shortage of advice on how to think strategically—current blog authors included (see below). There are principles, practices, processes, steps—that, if followed, promise to top up your thoughts on the challenges and opportunities the future holds. To be fair, there’s value in almost every piece of advice. But regardless of which approach you choose, all methods should start the same way: with a good question. A good question helps you avoid three problems that can frustrate your efforts from the start.
Alice in Wonderland Problem. In the book Alice in Wonderland, when Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which road to take, he responds laconically, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can take you there.” This is true with strategic thinking and fairy tales (not to mention your life; see here if this applies to you). If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, all the web searches you conduct and articles you read won’t have much value. More likely, they’ll probably lead to frustration stemming from information overload.
Forest for the Trees Problem. You’ve no doubt heard someone quip, “She can’t see the forest for the trees” when a person is so close to a situation, they miss the big picture. When searching for information—especially when hopping from one bit to the next—it’s possible to become so focused on the particulars you lose sight of the overall scheme. The right question calibrates where you are in the details.
Blinding Flash of the Obvious Problem. There are few events more unnerving than conducting far-reaching research, getting to the end, summarizing what you learned only to discover that your ‘novel insights’ have been widely known for the past decade. As humorous (and humiliating) as this sounds, it happens. An effective question ensures canvasing the information landscape yields as much of what’s known in an area of interest as possible.
Karl Wieck the renowned organizational theorist noted that research often starts with some issue or problem that piques your interest; a problem or paradox you’d like to know more about. Same with strategic thinking. Taking time to define and refine what you want to know, will put you on the path to better learnings.
If you’d like to learn more about strategic thinking, check out the Twelve Skills brief Mastering Strategic Thinking.
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