English reading summary “Strategic Thinking at the Top”

The article tell us about the ten Contributing experiences that contributed to the
development of a person’s ability to think strategically, and those experiences
represented four levels of interaction: personal, interpersonal, organizational and
external. Every executive did not benefit from all 10 experiences, and no two
executives had the same set of experiences. But each individual described at least
one experience at each of the four levels of interaction.

Family Upbringing/Education “Family upbringing” and “education” are grouped

together because the study participants discussed them interchangeably; the two
types of experiences typically occurred simultaneously, reinforcing one another.
One aspect noted was the value of exploring different perspectives, for example,
through travel and exposure to different cultures as well as through debate training
and practice of the Socratic method.

General Work Experiences: The participants cited experience in a variety of

organizational types and locations, which provided exposure to numerous strategic
issues and familiarity with a breadth of strategies. The most important factor here
was the responsibility for significant projects (for example, implementing the
merger of two organizations, evaluating a business for sale or turning around an
organization that was facing bankruptcy) and the freedom to make most, if not all,
of the decisions related to those initiatives.

Becoming a CEO: This experience is somewhat paradoxical. Many boards want

individuals who already have expertise in strategic thinking as their CEOs. But
many of the study participants cited becoming a CEO as important to the
development of their strategic thinking because, with that promotion, they gained
access to important information which enabled a “big picture” view of their business

Being Mentored: Many executives have mentors, but not all mentors help others to
develop their strategic thinking. Those who do are individuals who are in frequent
contact with the executive (at least once daily), providing immediate feedback.
Moreover, their influence starts early in an executive’s career, within a few years of
that individual’s first job, perhaps as a first boss.

Being Challenged: By a Key Colleague Colleagues played an important role by

challenging the thinking of the executives. Individuals performing this role worked
very closely with the executive, for example, as his boss, board chairman or
organization’s vice president of planning. In general, the interactions were private
and spontaneous, with a wide range in tone from relaxed, informal conversations to
highly aggressive, confrontational exchanges.

Monitoring Results/Benchmarking: The participants cited the importance of their

involvement in monitoring the operational and market performance of their
organizations. Such efforts were usually extensive and fairly sophisticated. Market
data, for example, were often segmented by geography and demographics, with
information on purchaser preferences and use, and views of competitors detailed
by the various market segments. Other key data tracked each market segment’s
stated preferences in relation to the actual behavior of those customers.

Doing Strategic Planning: The development of strategic thinking ability is enhanced

by participation in strategic planning processes with three characteristics. The first
is having planning sessions with management teams on a regular basis, often
monthly or quarterly. The second is preparation for these sessions, such as the
required reading of materials that help focus people’s thinking and provide a sense
of the meeting’s purpose. The third is the formal output of the planning process:
often an overall plan followed by business-unit goals and tactical plans. But even
less structured output — establishing a general direction and immediate next
steps, for example — can help develop an executive’s strategic thinking.

Spearheading a Major Growth Initiative: These projects must involve significant

complexity, be both capital and labor intensive and require at least a year to
complete. Examples include establishing a new program (developing the business
case, obtaining regulatory approval, overseeing facility construction and recruiting
staff), acquiring an organization (identifying, negotiating with and acclimating the
new group) and building a new facility (that is, overseeing its construction). As with
the category of general work experiences, the freedom to make important
decisions makes these projects valuable to the development of strategic thinking
ability.

Dealing With a Threat to Organizational Survival: The types of threats that most
contribute to the development of strategic thinking are those that involve attempts
at control by another entity, which occur repeatedly and that could have a severe
impact on the executive’s organization. Such experiences typically force a major
rethinking of issues that strike at the core of the individuals involved, substantially
sharpening their focus.

Vicarious Experiences: This category includes interactions with others in similar

roles, with the frequency of contact being an important factor. Usually, the contact
is maintained for several years with a wide range of frequency: The interaction
could occur monthly for a few hours, quarterly for one day or three days twice
annually. In many cases, the regular contact is enhanced by small group
interactions and social time, for example, a monthly professional meeting of CEOs
that includes sessions in which people break into smaller groups (perhaps geared
toward specific topics) followed by dinner with ample time for networking
opportunities. The study participants also noted the benefit of vicarious
experiences gained through indirect means, such as by reading business
publications.

Also, the article talk about three patterns. The first pattern is The Development of
Understanding, which expertise in strategic thinking arises from the culmination of
various experiences that provide new and different perspectives. The second
pattern “The Practice of Rational Planning”, expertise in strategic thinking is the
result of the executive continually asking the same three questions (large ovals):
Where are we going? How are we getting there? Are we executing efficiently?. And
finally, the 3rd pattern “The Completion of a Hierarchy of Challenges” which is
portrayed as the tackling of bigger and bigger business challenges, with the
executive’s ability to think strategically growing continuously over time.

In conclusion, the three patterns reflect how executives described the ways in
which they learned to think strategically. They illustrate both what occurred and
how the executives approached those experiences. The salient point here is that
all the executives in the study described their development in a manner that was
consistent with one of the three patterns. Improving Strategic Thinking The study
results have a number of implications for companies in their efforts to improve the
strategic thinking of their executives. The important thing to remember, though, is
that any development program must be highly individual because no two people
will absorb the same experience in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, some
general guidelines do apply. Experiences that contribute most to the development
of strategic thinking tend to take place over a year or more and require significant
responsibility on the part of the individual — usually the performance of a task that
is materially new to that person. Moreover, it’s crucial to remember that the
development of expertise in strategic thinking takes at least a decade, during which
time many of those experiences must be continually repeated. With all this in mind,
the following approaches should benefit companies in their efforts to develop the
strategic thinking of their managers.