Think

"We could leave our strategic plan on an airplane and it wouldn't matter. It's all about execution." CEO of a large U.S. Bank Since many strategic plans are nothing more than budget-driven, out-of-touch, unused slide decks with the relevance of a Sear's catalogue, leaving them on a plane isn't a bad idea. But, any manager that believes "it's all about execution," should be kicked off that plane at the comfortable cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. You can have the most technologically advanced aircraft flown by a competent pilot (execution), but if the plane's flight plan (strategy) has it running into a mountain range, great execution only helps you crash faster. Has your business changed much in the past year? Compare your strategic plan from the previous year to this year's plan. How much difference in strategy, resource allocation and insights do you see? Not much. Why? Most likely because there wasn't any new thinking involved in the creation and evolution of the plan throughout the year. Great strategy doesn't come from a company, division, business unit or functional group. Great strategy comes from great thinkers--managers who generate new insights, anticipate customer needs, and execute effectively. When is the last time you devoted 60 minutes to pure thinking about your business? Effective managers realize that "think time" doesn't just pop up. It has to be seized and devoured. Honeywell CEO Dave Cote sets aside a full day every few months for pure think time on three themes: energy efficiency, energy conservation and safety. Here's a revelation: you can't expect to be a strategic thinker if you don't take time to think. And if you don't take time to think, your expertise and your value will be minimal. Commenting on his research on the skills necessary to effectively lead, Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg wrote, "One theme that ran through our findings was the requirements for all the C-level jobs have shifted towards business acumen. To thrive as a C-level executive, an individual needs to be a good communicator, a collaborator and a strategic thinker." So how do you go about thinking more effectively and more regularly? There are three steps: 1. Schedule. You're busy. I'm busy. We're all busy doing stuff. Problem is, some of the stuff we're doing doesn't make much sense and adds no value. The first step is not putting think time in the calendar. The first step is assessing the areas and amount of time you currently spend. Take the least valuable activities on the list and cut those time investments by 50-100%. Then, the most

Copyright 2012. Strategic Thinking Institute. All rights reserved.

common excuse I hear, "I don't have any time to think strategically," is no longer true. Now, put time in your calendar on a weekly basis for thinking and label it whatever makes sense for you. For those of you with shared calendars where other people continue to double book over a filled time slot, simply be creative and put "Meeting with the CEO." If you're the CEO, put "Meeting with my inner self,"--this sounds strange enough that people won't bother you. 2. Frame. Think time is not code for fuzzy slippers, white wine and Kenny G music in the background, although now you have a plan for Friday night. Think time is most productive when you have questions and frameworks to stimulate your thinking, whether it be individually or in a group. If you facilitate meetings/teleconferences and you don't have productive thinking frameworks to guide your session, there's a good chance people believe you're wasting their time. And they're probably right. There are approximately 40 strategic thinking tools you can use individually or in a group to stimulate thinking about your business. One tool I developed that can kickstart thinking is the Contextual Radar. The Contextual Radar is a radar screen divided into four areas: market, customers, competitors and company. The intent of the tool is to capture what is top-of-mind for you in each of those areas. By putting these highlights down on paper and on one page,

you can begin to draw out potential opportunities and threats to the business. If you use this tool or any of the others in a group setting, I'd recommend letting individuals work on their own radars for 10 minutes and then building a master one as a group. It helps you understand the key things others are thinking about but may not necessarily express unless prompted by a tool such as this. 3. Record. In research for my past few books, I noticed that one of the common traits of the great contributors throughout history (da Vinci, Einstein, Gates) was the discipline to write down their ideas. Writing down your ideas and then reviewing them over time gives you the advantage of being able to see patterns and trends that others don't. It's impossible to connect the dots (insights) if you don't have any dots to connect. A study by McKinsey & Co. of more than 5,000 executives showed that the most important trait for managers in highperforming companies is the ability to come up with insights. Recording those insights in a consistent place (notebook, PC, smartphone, etc.) and then having the discipline to review them on a monthly or quarterly basis will dramatically boost your value to the organization. Chances are somebody in your market is investing time to think about the business. Is it you, or the competition?

Rich is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author on strategy. As the CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, he leads executive teams through the strategy process and he has trained more than 50,000 managers around the world to develop their strategic thinking skills. A former Chief Strategy Officer and professor of strategy, he brings both real-world experience and practical expertise to help groups build their strategy skills. Rich and his work have appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, NBC and FOX TV. Sign-up to receive your free copy of Strategic Thinker by visiting www.strategyskills.com
Copyright 2012. Strategic Thinking Institute. All rights reserved.