thinking strategically harvard

Start by changing your mindset. Think big picture, no matter where you sit on the org chart. If you believe that strategic thinking is only for senior executives, think again. 4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills, 6 Ways to Screen Job Candidates for Strategic Thinking, better act in the face of imperfect information. They challenge the status quo and get people talking about underlying assumptions. To stay at the forefront of innovation and adapt to radical change in global consumer demand, Coca-Cola is helping leaders forge new ways of thinking and build new … Thinking Strategically. Strategic thinking is defined as a mental or thinking process applied by an individual in the context of achieving a goal or set of goals in a game or other endeavor. Get clear on your next steps. Build your external reputation. One of my coaching clients, Lisa, a vice president of HR, was in this situation and explains, “I was just told to think bigger picture and to be more strategic. The trick is that you also have to fill in the intervening five years, which prompts you to reflect on what specific skills you’ll need to develop in the interim, what degrees or accreditations you may need to earn, and what promotional path you’ll need to pursue in order to get there. Instead, what marks you as successful over time is creating in-depth, valuable projects — whether that’s writing a book or a brilliant new piece of code, spearheading the launch of a promising product, or undertaking a meaningful initiative, like reorganizing the company’s performance review system. Develop your ability to innovate, think strategically, and gain a competitive advantage for your organization through our intensive business strategy programs. Bowman; ... Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. In order to be strategic, you need a solid understanding of the industry context, trends, and business drivers. and made sure to frame issues in the context of the CHRO’s and the CEO’s top priorities. Finally, make time in your busy schedule for reflection. Understanding that helps force your thinking and ensure that you’re taking the right steps (if a masters degree is required for a position you want in three years, you better start applying now). Ignore this fact and you risk getting passed over for a promotion, or having your budget cut because your department’s strategic contribution is unclear. She stopped going to meetings she didn’t need to be at. Thinking Strategically Competing to be the Best vs. Nina A. Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance includes The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance by Lucian A. Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); For Whom Corporate Leaders … Lisa wasn’t seeing the big picture. Think strategically and find innovative approaches to business challenges; ... Harvard Business School Executive Education also works with Eruditus Executive Education as a program recruitment partner for the Senior Executive Leadership Program—India. For example, pay attention to the issues that get raised over and over in your organization and synthesize the common obstacles your colleagues face. Having others whom you trust challenge your thinking can open up new ideas and possibilities you hadn’t previously considered. First, routinely explore the internal trends in your daily work, like issues that come up repeatedly. Here are four ways to become more strategic about the process. That doesn’t mean you should jump ship every few years. Instead, we have to take control of our career planning to ensure we’re putting ourselves in position for long-term growth. It can be tempting to invest your time the same way everyone else does — putting in face time at the office, or racing to respond to emails the fastest. She found it difficult to contribute strategically without the time to reflect on the issues and to ponder options. Be proactive about connecting with peers both in your organization and in your industry to understand their observations of the marketplace. A flagship program within the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education (HIHE) portfolio, the Management Development Program (MDP) provides higher education managers with the tools and insight to think more strategically, balance competing demands, and engage in more forward-thinking leadership. Bowman; ... Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Competing to be Unique Strategy starts with thinking the right way about competition. Group and logically order your main points, and keep them as succinct as possible. Then, share your findings across your network. Many managers compete to be “the best”—but this is a dangerous mindset that leads to a destructive, zero-sum competition that no one can win. Leadership Workshops and Seminars (spring) L104BY Practicing Leadership Inside and Out (spring) In a recent Harvard Business Review article on the evolution of design thinking, Jon Kolko 8 noted, People need their interactions with technologies and other complex systems to be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable. Once you’ve accepted that it’s part of your job, focus on developing four key abilities that demonstrate your strategic prowess. Because employees capable of thinking critically, logically, and strategically can have a tremendous impact on a business’s trajectory. If you want to improve your strategic thinking skills, the good news is that, with the right mindset and practice, you can. And she fought back the initial guilt of “Am I doing real work when I’m just sitting at my desk thinking?”. “Planning sessions” seem amorphous, and the ROI is uncertain. Those that are really skilled walk people through the process of identifying issues, shaping common understanding, and framing strategic choices. By Harvard Business Review, $19.95. Recognizing that she was not bringing her full value to the table, she started to evaluate her tasks based on urgency and importance as outlined in Stephen Covey’s 2 x 2 matrix. By becoming more curious, and looking at information from different points of view, she was able to reduce her myopia and see different possibilities, different approaches, and different potential outcomes. At first, you might feel like you’re kicking up sand in the ocean. Once the dust settles, however, and you’re able to contribute at a higher level, you’ll be glad you took the risk. 09 AUG–02 OCT 2021 — Module 1 (Virtual, Self-Paced) 03–22 OCT 2021 — Module 2 (HBS Campus) 23 OCT 2021–05 FEB 2022 — Module 3 (Virtual, Self-Paced) But there are ways you can start honing these skills: Lisa didn’t realize that the way she spoke created the perception that she was not strategic. But going for months or years without regular introspection can lead you down a professional path that you didn’t intend to be on. Force yourself to set aside time. If this sounds complex, that’s because it is. For example, when working on an employee retention project she asked herself, “What does success look like in Year 1?”  “What does it look like in Year 3?” “What could impact the outcome in a negative way?” “What are the early signs of success/failure?” “What do business partners need to understand to ensure its success?” and “Do the outcomes support the broader goals of the organization?” By asking these tough questions first, she recognized that she could better engage with colleagues and senior executives early on in ways that would benefit the project — and would help shape the perception that she was thoughtful and strategic. At first, you may feel disoriented as you challenge your own assumptions and gain comfort with conflict and curiosity, but when you’re able to contribute at a higher level, you’ll be glad you took the risk. Ira Kay is a Managing Partner, Chris Brindisi is a Partner, and Blaine Martin is a Consultant at Pay Governance LLC. A study by Wharton professor Matthew Bidwell showed that external hires into a company get paid 18-20% more than internal workers who are promoted into similar jobs. Group and logically order your main points, and keep things as succinct as possible. That’s patently unjust, but it points to an important truth: professionals are often taken for granted inside their own organizations. An intellectual appreciation of the importance of bringing in current data and seeking trends isn’t enough. Design thinking succeeds when it finds ideal solutions based on the real needs of real people. The Program for Research in Markets and Organizations (PRIMO) is a 10-week summer program that aims to build community and stimulate creativity among Harvard undergraduate researchers in business and related fields. Because of the amount of work she had and the pace at which she needed to get it done, she often took a “heads down” approach to her job and failed to “lift up” and observe both internal and external trends. Just as you’re more likely to go to the gym if you have plans to meet a workout buddy, you can use the same technique to enforce discipline around strategic thinking. Invest in deep work. Nina A. It can, and must, happen at every level of the organization; it’s one of those unwritten parts of all job descriptions. Insights from a range of industries ignite your thinking. Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D. They prioritize and sequence their thoughts. Your vision will be blurred as you manage through the unsettling feelings that come with challenging your own assumptions and gaining comfort with conflict and curiosity. Taking time to think about your career development is obviously important, but it’s almost never urgent, so many professionals fail to take action, year after year. It can, and must, happen at every level of the organization; it’s one of those unwritten parts of all job descriptions. It felt like I had been given the definition of a word by using the same word. The Master in Design Engineering (MDE) is a collaborative degree program between the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She learned to embrace debate and to invite challenge, without letting it get personal so that she could ask tough questions. Once you’ve accepted that it’s part of your job, focus on developing four key abilities that demonstrate your strategic prowess. Understand the unique information and perspective that your function provides and define its impact on the corporate level strategy. Identify several trusted colleagues and start a mastermind group to meet regularly, discuss big picture goals, and hold each other accountable for meeting them. As I described in “A Campaign Strategy for Your Career,” one technique you can use is “pre-writing your resume.” In this exercise, you put yourself five years into the future and write your resume as you envision it, including your new title and exact job responsibilities. She set about changing that. You also have to: With a fresh understanding of trends and issues, you can practice using strategic thinking by asking yourself, “How do I broaden what I consider?” Questions are the language of strategy. She blocked out thinking time on her calendar and honored it, just as she would for other meetings. Explore proven business theories and strategic tools through hands-on exercises, interactive lectures, and dynamic discussions. In a world where the average employee sends and receives 122 emails per day and attends an average of 62 meetings per month, your boss or HR leadership simply doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to properly think through how best to deploy your talents moving forward. 4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills, 6 Ways to Screen Job Candidates for Strategic Thinking, marketing strategist and professional speaker. By focusing on these four steps, you can begin to carve out time to be more deliberate, and lay the groundwork for the job you want — five years from now, and beyond. L103 Thinking Strategically about Education Reform (fall) L104AY Practicing Leadership Inside and Out (fall) L106AY Race, Equity, and Leadership (fall) L100BY The Workplace Lab for System-Level Leaders (spring) L101BY Ed.L.D. You can’t leave your professional growth to chance. When things get busy, time for strategic thinking is almost always the first to go. View Details ... HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically. Thinking Strategically. Blogging for industry journals, applying to speak at conferences, and taking on a leadership role in your professional association are all great ways to stay visible in your field — both to outsiders and those inside your company who need to be reminded of your talents. Add more structure to your written and verbal communication. The place where many professionals fall down is identifying the pathway to get from here to there. 4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills. Stop going to meetings you don’t need to attend, and block out thinking time on your calendar. Practice giving the answer first, instead of building up to your main point. Many professionals don’t seek this work out, as there’s no immediate ROI — but the long-term benefits and recognition are substantial. She chose one or two strategic areas to focus on. That involves a shift from staccato, reactive work into more self-directed, long-term projects (“Deep Work,” as author and professor Cal Newport puts it). It just wasn’t helpful.”. Lisa also practiced other key skills. 4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills. Instead, force yourself to make time for strategic reflection. Getting clarity around your professional goals — such as being promoted to SVP, starting your own business, or running the Asia/Pacific region — is only the first step. If you believe that strategic thinking is only for senior executives, think again. Because Lisa approached her job in a transactional manner, simply getting the next hire, she didn’t recognize that she needed a completely new approach to recruitment and retention. The CTP tutorial is strategically designed to build upon the CTP prework and guide you through the ALM program’s specific proposal process by offering you critical learnings that are integral to a successful thesis director assignment, including adherence to human subjects approval guidelines and standard Harvard format requirements. To manage the inevitable ambiguity that arises when you ask more questions, Lisa also learned to clarify her decision-making criteria, allowing her to better act in the face of imperfect information. What could impact the outcome in a negative way? Make it a routine exercise to explore and synthesize the internal trends in your day-to-day work. The quest to build your strategic skills can be uncomfortable. Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard T.H. She was missing key information that could help her focus, prioritize, and be proactive in addressing talent issues for her fast-growing company. Harvard Business Review Guides Ultimate Boxed Set (16 Books) By Harvard Business Review, Nancy Duarte, Bryan A. Garner, Mary L. Shapiro, Jeff Weiss, $300.00. They structure their verbal and written communication in a way that helps their audience focus on their core message. So she pushed herself to ramp up her perspective-taking and inquiry skills. Since logical thinking implies noticing all the details and putting them together one by one until the picture becomes clear as day, strategy plays a major role in the thinking process. Learning to think strategically will not only power the brain, but it can also help you deal with business obligations faster and more proficiently. First by focusing her one-on-ones with her CHRO on higher level discussions and leaving tactical issues to email. If you’ve ever received feedback that you “need to be more strategic,” you know how frustrating it can feel. As a cognitive activity, it produces thought.. This post is based on their Pay Governance memorandum. At lower levels, that might mark employees as “go-getters.” But as you ascend in the organization, the ability to jump higher and faster becomes less important. The second ability is asking tough questions: “What does success look like in Year 1? Lisa came to appreciate that her life and prior experience gave her a unique, yet myopic, strategic lens. Strategic thinkers also know how to speak the language. So what specific steps can you take to be more strategic in your current role? To do this, she focused on issues, not people, and used neutral peers to challenge her thinking. But it does point to the fact that, even if you’d like to stay at the same company, it’s important to cultivate a strong external reputation so that you have opportunities if you want them, and to remind your boss and colleagues that your abilities are sought after and appreciated by others. What are the early signs of success or failure?” Next, structure your written and verbal communication in a way that helps your audience focus on the core message. View Details | Press Book. To add insult to injury, the feedback rarely comes with any concrete guidance on what to do about it. In the early phase of our work together, Lisa kept a jam-packed schedule, running from meeting to meeting. Prime your audience by giving them a heads up on the overarching topics you want to address so they are prepared to engage in a higher level conversation, not just the tactical details. (Gratingly, they also perform worse for the first two years.) 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