To gain the power of strategic thinking it’s not specialist task, anyone can empower himself or herself with this and can become a better strategic thinker. If you wish to be able to formulate and implement plans that will achieve the desired objective, you may consider the following pointers to practice: 1. Break Down the problem in to smaller pieces Any problem which looks too big can still be solved easily if you break it in to small pieces and the big problem will become multiple small problems. The first step in strategic thinking is to break down an issue into smaller, more manageable parts so that you can focus on them more effectively. That’s what automotive innovator Henry Ford did when he created the assembly line, and that’s why he said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. How you break down an issue is up to you, whether it’s by function, timetable, responsibility, purpose, or some other method. The point is that you need to break it down. 2. Start with Why before you think of How Most of the people often make the mistake of jumping the gun and trying immediately to figure out how to accomplish the objective. Instead of asking how, they should first ask why. If you jump right into problem solving mode, how are you going to know all the issues? Thousands of engineers can design bridges or buildings, but the great engineer is the man who can tell whether the bridge or the building should be built at all, where it should be built, and when and why. Asking why helps you to think about all the reasons for decisions. It helps you to open your mind to possibilities and opportunities. 3. Define the problem right William Feather, author of The Business of Life, said, “Before it can be solved, a problem must be clearly defined.” Too many people rush to solutions, and as a result they end up solving the wrong problem. To avoid that, ask probing questions to expose the real issues. Challenge all of your assumptions. Collect information, you may not want to jump to a conclusion before you gather enough information to What else could be the real issue? Discovering your real situation and objectives is a major part of the battle. Once you identify and define the problem right, the solutions are easy to find. 4. Be mindful of your Resources In life or profession, you will never be working infinite resources. You will always have some or other limitations. A strategy that doesn’t take into account resources is doomed to failure. Be mindful about, How much time do you have? How much money? What kinds of materials, supplies, or inventory do you have? What are your other assets? What liabilities or obligations will come into play? What is your team size, who can make an impact? You know your own organization and profession. Figure out what resources you have at your disposal and in case of need where the support will come from. 5. Develop Your Plan How you approach the planning process depends greatly on your profession and the size of the challenge that you’re planning to tackle, so it’s difficult to recommend many specifics. However, no matter how you go about planning, take this advice: start with the obvious. When you tackle an issue or plan that way, it brings unity and consensus to the team, because everyone sees those things. Obvious elements build mental momentum and initiate creativity and intensity. The best way to create a road to the complex is to build on the fundamentals. 6. Put the Right People in the Right Place When you are working as professional or in an bigger organisation, It’s critical that you include your team as part of your strategic thinking. Before you can implement your plan, you must make sure that you have the right people in place. Even the best strategic thinking won’t help if you don’t take into account the people part of the equation. Everything comes together, however, when you put together all three elements: the right person, the right place, and the right plan. 7. Strategic thinking is a repetitive Process Strategic thinking is like your daily routine, you have to keep doing it. If you expect to solve any major problem once in a while, you may land in to a disappointment. Little things can be won easily through systems and personal discipline. But major issues need major strategic thinking time. If you want to be an effective strategic thinker, then you need to become a continuous strategic thinker. One can move the wall in positive direction, One can create a new nation, one can create a billionaire business and raise the empire. That’s what can happen when you unleash the power of strategic thinking. Inspired by How Successful People Think.

Strategic thinking helps me to plan, to become more efficient, to maximize my strengths, and to find the most direct path toward achieving any objective. The benefits of strategic thinking are numerous. Here are a few of the reasons you should adopt it as one of your thinking tools: 1. Strategic Thinking Simplifies the Difficult Strategic thinking is really nothing more than planning on steroids. Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes said, “The man who is prepared has his battle half fought.” Strategic thinking takes complex issues and long-term objectives, which can be very difficult to address, and breaks them down into manageable sizes. Anything becomes simpler when it has a plan! Strategic thinking can also help you simplify the management of everyday life. I do that by using systems, which are nothing more than good strategies repeated. Just about any difficult task can be made simpler with strategic thinking. 2. Strategic Thinking Prompts You to Ask the Right Questions Do you want to break down complex or difficult issues? Then ask questions. Strategic thinking forces you through this process. Take a look at the following questions Direction: What should we do next? Why? Organization: Who is responsible for what? Who is responsible for whom? Do we have the right people in the right places? Cash: What is our projected income, expense, net? Can we afford it? How can we afford it?” Tracking: Are we on target? How are our KPIs reflecting? Refinement: How can we be more effective and more efficient (move toward the ideal)? These may not be the only questions you need to ask to begin formulating a strategic plan, but they are certainly a good start. 3. Strategic Thinking Prompts Customization “Successful people make plans to fit circumstances, but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans.” All good strategic thinkers are precise in their thinking. They try to match the strategy to the problem, because strategy isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Sloppy or generalized thinking is an enemy of achievement. The intention to customize in strategic thinking forces a person to go beyond vague ideas and engage in specific ways to go after a task or problem. It sharpens the mind. 4. Strategic Thinking Prepares You Today for an Uncertain Tomorrow Strategic thinking is the bridge that links where you are to where you want to be. It gives direction and credibility today and increases your potential for success tomorrow. It is, like saddling your dreams before you ride them. 5. Strategic Thinking Reduces the Margin of Error Any time you shoot from the hip or go into a totally reactive mode, you increase your margin for error. It’s like a golfer stepping up to a golf ball and hitting it before lining up the shot. Misaligning a shot by just a few degrees can send the ball a hundred yards off target. Strategic thinking, however, greatly reduces that margin for error. It lines up your actions with your objectives, just as lining up a shot in golf helps you to put the ball closer to the pin. The better aligned you are with your target, the better the odds that you will be going in the right direction. 6. Strategic Thinking Gives You Influence with Others One executive confided in another: “Our company has a short range plan and a long range plan. Our short range plan is to stay afloat long enough to make it to our long range plan.” That’s hardly a strategy, yet that’s the position where some business leaders put themselves. There’s more than one problem with neglecting strategic thinking in that way. Not only does it fail to build the business, but it also loses the respect of everyone involved with the business. The one with the plan is the one with the power. It doesn’t matter in what kind of activity you’re involved. Employees want to follow the business leader with a good business plan. Volunteers want to join the pastor with a good ministry plan. Children want to be with the adult who has the well-thought-out vacation plan. If you practice strategic thinking, others will listen to you and they will want to follow you. If you possess a position of leadership in an organization, strategic thinking is essential. Even to have best outcome of life, it is best of have strategy for life events, starting from career to retirement to family etc. Inspired by “How Successful People Think.”.

“Most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than planning their lives.” —SOURCE UNKNOWN When you hear the words “strategic thinking,” what comes to mind? Do the visions of business plans dance in your head? Do you conjure up marketing plans, the kind that can turn a company around? Perhaps you contemplate global politics. Or you recall some of history’s greatest military campaigns: The war of Panipat or Hannibal crossing the Alps to surprise the Roman army, Alexander’s invasion to India and War with Porus. Or some Business strategies like Amazon or Google or Reliance Jio. Perhaps, but strategy doesn’t have to be restricted to military action—or even to business. Strategic thinking can make a positive impact on any area of life. PLAN YOUR LIFE, LIVE YOUR PLAN It is observed that most people try to plan their lives one day at a time or at most some new year resolutions of which 80% fails before they come to end. They wake up, make up their to-do list, and dive into action (although some people aren’t even that strategic). Fewer individuals plan their lives one week at a time. They review their calendar for the week, check their appointments, review their goals, and then get to work. They generally outachieve most of their daily-planning colleagues. I try to take planning one step further. Have you ever seen anyone preparing trajectory of life by planning. Although everything may not happen as it is planned at the beginning however any plan need course correction as you move forward towards executions. Having a big picture in mind is very important otherwise where ever you land in life is the point you need to accept as destiny. The good thing is to visualise as strategic thinker as how you want to shape your life and what are the key mile stones and put the decisive action plan in place to reach those mile stone. I have learned a lot from corporate world and I always try to adopt these tools and techniques in personal life. May it be creating a vision or purpose and deriving an action plan out of it and then finally reaching each mile-stone by design or taking a corrective action when needed and more importantly accepting failure gracefully and learning out it and creating new plan to reach to destination. John C Maxwell mentioned : At the beginning of every month, I spend half a day working on my calendar for the next forty days. Forty days works for me rather than just thirty. That way, I get a jump on the next month and don’t get surprised. I begin by reviewing my travel schedule and planning activities with my family. Then I review what projects, lessons, and other objectives I want to accomplish during those five to six weeks. Then I start blocking out days and times for thinking, writing, working, meeting with people, etc. I set times to do fun things, such as seeing a show, watching a ball game, or playing golf. I also set aside small blocks of time to compensate for the unexpected. By the time I’m done, I can tell you nearly everything I’ll be doing, almost hour by hour, during the coming weeks. This strategy is one of the reasons I have been able to accomplish much. Similar way I keep the next year broad plan in consideration while designing the calendar for the year. Generally in my professional life also we practice to freeze our leave calendar for next full year before end of previous year November and by and large able to follow as team. This helps plan the life in much better way. You can plan the important event in much thoughtful manner except few short term needs. One must strategically prepare the career plan for next three to five years and family and personal plans in the similar way so that you are almost well placed strategically in life having your vision and final destination at target. If you haven’t try this yet you may attempt this and I am confident you will fill the difference with strategic thinking. Inspired with “How Successful People Think.”