Strategic Thinking - What is it and how do we do it?

Any military general will tell you that a strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, while tactics without a strategy is the quickest way to defeat.

In business the same applies. A strategy without a process of implementation can paralyse, while a series of tasks without direction can confuse. Both will affect the overall success and effectiveness of any organisation.

However, there is one more fundamental element to this equation that makes the difference between good and great. You could say, the degree of difference between those businesses who just survive and those that thrive. 

The revolutionary Simon Sinek simplifies it as:

"The Why”.

He speaks eloquently about the need for businesses to articulate, to themselves and then to us, why they do what they do. It is then important, he says, to have clarity about how they will do it, and what the tactics will be to bring 'the why' to life.

Steve Jobs, the late-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. is almost the central character in Simon Sinek's argument, and for good reason. Apple has been absolutely clear, since they first began, that their purpose, their why, was to give choice and authority to 'the little guy'. From their very first foray into technology they were writing software packages to help draftees avoid mandatory enrolment into the military. Technology stuck as the way they would achieve their purpose and each new iteration of product, from computers, to telephones, to tablets, to watches, are very clearly their what. 

But their why drives them.

Throughout the years Apple has, time and again, broken down the monopoly that big corporations have held. iTunes, for example, single handedly reinvented the music industry and, well, the iPhone....was...ground-breaking....

How many companies can reach into so many variants of product so successfully?

"Those." Simon says, "who know why they do what they do, and are able to articulate it to us, the consumer, through their products".

The military general has his why. He knows why he is going to war. He has a purpose. A reason to be there. A compelling reason to move forward.

Most good businesses have a strategy. They know where they are going and how they are going to get there. But only the great companies know why. 

So what is the difference between the good and the great? How do you find your purpose? And once you have it how do you ensure it drives you?

It starts in the mind. 

It starts in the mind of the most significant person in the organisation: the founder, the chairman, the CEO. 

And that is strategic thinking. 

Knowing the purpose. Driving the purpose. Articulating the purpose and then weaving the purpose into every decision. Every tactic.

It's not easy. 

Remember, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple for doing exactly that. For staying true to his purpose and 'the little guy'. But.

When they removed him they lost their purpose-driver. And then their way.

So he came back...and everyone embraced it. The Why. And it truly drove Apple. Every employee. Every manager. Every leader.

And they made history. 

So do you want to be good? Or do you want to be great...... 

Cathryn Henry is the founder of OneDegree Development. The organisation that exists to help the best get better.

"Keep asking until there are no questions left and all assumptions are tested."