Why Strategic Thinking Doesn't Happen

In researching a presentation on cultivating strategic thinking, it's clear there's a significant gap between senior management expectations for strategic thinking effort (perhaps 1/3 of the senior team's time) and what happens (typically less than 1 hour per month, if any time at all, is spent on strategic issues).

Why the gap?

Three potential reasons emerge:

1. Something is missing - the traditional views (or stereotypes) of strategic planning don't lend themselves to people wanting to invest time in the activity.
2. Somebody is missing - strategic thinking is frequently viewed as the purview of senior management, cutting off the diversity of external & internal perspectives needed for effective thinking.
3. Outcomes are missing - strategic sessions that may be viewed (at best) as interesting conversations, aren't translated into clear outcomes that lead to clear results.

By changing perspectives, it's possible to address each of these gaps, and ideally get people throughout your team thinking more strategically. In upcoming posts, you can explore some of the ways to realize these changes and reap the benefits.