How to Develop the Mind of a Strategist (Jim Lukaszewski's Strategy Newsletter)

Strategy is a mindset, a way of thinking about decision making, work issues, even a wide variety of life-related issues. Michel Robert in his 1993 book, Strategy Pure and Simple: How Winning CEOs Outthink Their Competition, defines strategic thinking as, " . . . a fresh approach to the subject of strategy. It identifies the key factors that dictate the direction of an organization and is a process that the organization's management uses to set direction and articulate their vision." In his newest volume, Strategy Pure and Simple II: How Winning Companies Dominate Their Competitor, Mr. Robert makes the key point that, " . . . the companies that will prosper and outpace their competitors during the next two decades will be those that will be able to outthink their competitors strategically . . . the winning CEO in the future will be the one who can craft a singular strategy that gives the company a distinctive advantage." Becoming a strategist means committing to a mental approach that outthinks the competition, or the opposition, or the media and produces a distinctive or unique approach, series of steps, solution options, or direction choices. It's easy to list these outcomes but much tougher to consistently achieve them. Keep in mind that we're talking about a management process, not the creative process. Creativity and strategy are different. I'll address the differences in a future column. Today let's help you learn how to develop the mind of a strategist. Let's begin by helping you assess your strategic tendencies. A LITTLE SELF-ANALYSIS How strategic are you? What's your strategic mindset? Here's an exercise you can do privately to determine just how strategic you really are. Assess yourself against these strategic attributes: 1. Inconsistency: The strategist is intentionally inconsistent; in fact with a true strategist, inconsistency is a virtue.