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Published January 30, 2020 at 11:30 AM

Strategic Thinking and Planning: The Value of A More Robust Annual Plan

6 min read
Strategic Thinking and Planning: The Value of A More Robust Annual Plan
3:05
6 min read
Strategic Thinking and Planning: The Value of A More Robust Annual Plan
3:05

Key Takeaways

  • Strategic thinking is the process of thinking, planning, and doing the work that leads your company toward your preferred future; in essence, a systematic mix of innovation, strategic planning, and operational planning.
  • Leaders often confuse strategic thinking and strategic planning with being tactical and task-oriented, but strategic thinking goes well beyond the to-do items of the day.
  • Past performance statistics are lagging indicators; they are useful but not sufficient on their own for developing solid future strategies, which also need leading indicators.
  • Foster strategic thinking with five questions: How does this strategy link to my business goals? What value is created if the goal is achieved? How does the decision impact stakeholders? What are we assuming to be true? What are the positive and negative implications?
  • Applied to your Annual Plan, strategic thinking forces meaningful conversations about what matters most and produces clear strategic priorities aligned with your longer-term vision.

Regardless of size, all businesses require strategic thinking to grow. Many leaders consider strategic thinking (and the subsequent execution of their strategic plan) as one of the most challenging leadership tasks. So many times, though, leaders confuse strategic thinking and strategic planning with being tactical and task-oriented. 

While strategic thinking involves these two principles, it is not restricted to them. Rather, strategic thinking is the process of thinking, planning, and doing the work that will lead your company toward your preferred future. 

For this reason, company leaders need to possess a healthy understanding of the value of strategic thinking and how it helps in creating a strategic roadmap for growth. Strategic thinking is, in essence, a systematic mix of innovation, strategic planning, and operational planning. The aim is to develop strategies that improve the chances of success for your company.

The most common approach to launching new products or entering a new vertical (or any other strategic endeavor) is to gauge everything based on past performance. There’s nothing wrong with using past statistics, but more and more organizations are learning that these are not sufficient on their own for developing solid strategies for the future. They are lagging indicators. What’s needed are leading indicators.

It is not just about when to launch the next campaign and how to execute it. Businesses have to proactively work towards creating value for customers. This is where strategic thinking serves you best, by questioning the very reason for pursuing a business objective.

Strategic questions to consider when fostering your team’s strategic thinking: 

  • How does the goal of this strategy link to my business goals?
  • What value will be created if the goal is achieved?
  • How will this decision impact our stakeholders?
  • What is it that we’re assuming to be true?
  • What might be the implications of our doing this—both positive and negative?

All in all, strategic thinking is valuable if you want to:

  • Be known as an innovator in your industry
  • Leverage changes in your industry
  • Keep your business free from complacency while instilling a continuous improvement approach
  • Have a proactive approach to problem-solving
  • Have a whole systems approach

As you develop your Annual Plan (followed by your Quarterly Plan), strategic thinking forces meaningful conversations around what is defined as being most important to the company. It offers alignment in thinking and clarity to you and your team by providing a clear definition of your strategic priorities and the actions needed to support those priorities.

Strategic thinking will take you and your team far beyond the tactical and task-focused “to do” items of the day. It will create a flow that elevates the value of your discussions toward higher-level thinking. In turn, you create a robust Annual Plan that aligns with your longer-term vision and allows you to Think-Plan-Do with much greater strategic intent and ease.

 

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking is the process of thinking, planning, and doing the work that will lead your company toward your preferred future. It is a systematic mix of innovation, strategic planning, and operational planning, aimed at developing strategies that improve your company's chances of success.

How is strategic thinking different from being tactical?

Leaders often confuse the two. Strategic thinking involves tactical and task-oriented work but is not restricted to it. It takes you and your team far beyond the day's to-do items, elevating discussions toward higher-level thinking about why you are pursuing a business objective in the first place.

Why isn't past performance enough to build a strategy on?

Past statistics are lagging indicators. There is nothing wrong with using them, but they are not sufficient on their own for developing solid strategies for the future. What's needed are leading indicators, along with proactive work to create value for customers rather than just gauging everything on what already happened.

What questions help develop strategic thinking?

Five strategic questions to consider with your team: How does the goal of this strategy link to my business goals? What value will be created if the goal is achieved? How will this decision impact our stakeholders? What are we assuming to be true? What might be the implications of doing this, both positive and negative?

How does strategic thinking improve your annual plan?

It forces meaningful conversations around what is most important to the company, giving you and your team alignment in thinking and a clear definition of strategic priorities and the actions needed to support them. The result is a more robust Annual Plan that aligns with your longer-term vision and lets you Think-Plan-Do with greater strategic intent.

Why is strategic thinking valuable for a business?

It helps you be known as an innovator in your industry, leverage changes in your industry, keep your business free from complacency while instilling continuous improvement, take a proactive approach to problem-solving, and maintain a whole-systems view of the business.
Picture of Cathy McCullough, M.S.

Cathy McCullough, M.S.
Cathy McCullough is Business Growth Consultant and Culture Expert with Rhythm Systems. For 25 years, she has worked with leaders of organizations of all sizes and sectors by providing consulting and coaching for business growth. Areas of expertise include strategy development for growth, cultivating accountability, creating high performance environments, organizational culture, and leadership. Cathy is also a keynote and workshop speaker at national and international conferences.
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