Strategic thinking is the intellectual process of seeing the big picture, the organization as a whole.  It also involves seeing the many parts of the organization and the actions or activities associated with those parts by clarifying how they support or inhibit the mission of the organization.  The next step in strategic thinking is to move back to seeing the big picture. 

Strategic thinkers are proactive in gaining a competitive business advantage by:

•       Accepting the reality that change may be needed
•       Questioning current cultural assumptions
•       Questioning current processes and procedures and other related internal factors
•       Continually strengthening their understanding of the total system (organization)
•       Envisioning unlimited possibilities for the future
•       Generating new ideas and options
•       Evaluating how the organization fits with its external environment (social, economic, geographic, competition and stakeholder influences)
•       Evaluating internal factors, such as your available resources (equipment, facilities, finances, personnel)
•       Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of processes and their impact on or relationship to other processes
•       Identifying critical success factors that influence individual and team productivity and determining which are within "local" control and those that are not
•       Forecasting change in a variety of external factors and influencers
•       Considering how to use measurement tools to determine success (or progress)

Strategic thinkers have a sense of the possibilities that the future could hold.  They have the ability to draw upon the past, evaluate the present and envision what has to change or remain the same to achieve pre-determined outcomes or to take advantage of potential opportunities.

Ask yourself - Are you a Strategic Thinker?