what is cultural strategic thinking

Good ideas can come from anywhere. Most of us recognize the wisdom embedded in that statement, yet we still see strategy as the realm of our organizations senior leaders. In cultural strategic thinking, it is important to talk about what you will do or what you have to do. Cultural strategic thinking is essential because it is this higher strategic thinking that enables you to process the new information and reinterpret it in a new situation. wrote that learning about a new culture requires putting all the pieces of a pattern together when you do not know the totality of what that whole picture should look like. The Greek word strategy comes from Stratos (army or resource) and ago (to lead), so the definition is quite literal. 1. In many respects, it is even more important than strategic planning. What is your next strategic goal in your life? Your ability to be a culturally intelligent leader depends on your willingness to maintain a positive attitude. When you think strategically, you have to Reactive thinkers see this analysis as criticism. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. If your culture doesnt work, your strategy cant work. Adapted from Marilee G. Adams, 2004, Change your questions, change your life: 7 powerful tools for life and work, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, p. 49. Mainly through Human Resources activities, achieving a strategic thinking culture may necessitate that the firms culture evolves from a stringent hierarchical system to a flatter, more collaborative one. Not quite. I had one of my newer instructors go train with him. You will notice it when others marvel or comment at your ability to effectively manage cultural interactions. You can do this by using multiple sources and venues. Consider passing it on: Creative Commons supports free culture from music to education. By training your mind to think at a higher level, you create new maps of cultural situations, which help you to How to Build Strong Leaders within Your Organization. Cultural strategic thinking helps you to discard what you think you know and to apply new information concerning what the situation could be. To download a .zip file containing this book to use offline, simply click here. In that case, you will realize that it seems to mean different things to different people. proposes that when you change your questions in any given situation, this allows you to change your thinking. Tactics are the specific steps you take to move toward your vision. Active listening focuses your mind on the speaker, and, if done repeatedly and successfully, you are able to build trust and a relationship with others. You can do this by reminding yourself or by setting goals centered around the following actions: Active listeningThe ability of an individual to understand, interpret, reflect on, and respond to what that individual just heard. Summary. So it is no brainer to avoid making important decisions or thinking about them when feeling tired or lousy. It is a little easier to run one mile per day, though. { Dont wait for challenges. Different people with different backgrounds are each going to bring a different perspective to the process. Strategy: He decided to find ways to get involved in activities his kids liked. You have to gather as much information as you can. It can facilitate an effective cultural interaction with less conflict, confusion, and frustration. Were all born with some innate ability to think and act strategically. Some people will talk to themselves; others find it helpful to have someone to talk to. Strategic planning vs. strategic thinking. If you only have a Plan A, you have no way to strategically adjust to an unanticipated challenge. One that seems particularly relevant for schools is: Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect a companys direction. (Center for Applied Research, cited in Haycock, 2012) All change starts at the top, so your first However, if you have 10 potential solutions, the team can eliminate solutions that are less viable. Its true that strategic thinking skills are valuable, and some people (like senior executives or policymakers) need them more than others. Anticipate possible challenges and identify ways to deal with them before they occur. Going back to the Chess example, in some cases, a good leader may realize, Whoa, we arent playing Chess at all. Yes, we can, and we often do, in most cases, unconsciously and on the fly. Strategic thinking is the ability to think on a big and small scale, long and short term, and into the past and the present. Normally, the author and publisher would be credited here. A good way to explain this is to think about playing Chess. Through observation and active listening, you pick up what you normally do not see. This might include diminishing the fetishization of athletics at the service academies, for example. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. They also each have different problem-solving skills. A strategic plan is like a roadmap. Adapted from Marilee G. Adams, 2004, Change your questions, change your life: 7 powerful tools for life and work, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, p. 49. Strategic thinking involves thinking about larger, macro issues, in contrast to the micro focus that many tend to take. Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. is your ability to understand, interpret, reflect, and respond to what you have heard. You would go from making $5,200 per year to $177,817 per year. New page type Book TopicInteractive Learning Content, Textbooks for Primary Schools (English Language), Textbooks for Secondary Schools (English Language), Creative Commons-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, Culturally Intelligent Leadership Matters, The Difference between Managers and Leaders, Importance of Leadership in a Global Economy, Contemplate Your Motivation and Ability to Work with Others, Techniques for Developing Strategic Thinking, Selecting Intentional Thinking Strategies, The Role of Self-Efficacy in Cultural Intelligence, Support Others in Their Self-Efficacy Development, Reduce Anxiety and Stress Related to Cultural Interactions, Case Study: Young, Confident, and Moving too Fast. How much time per week do you spend on strategic thinking? I had been on a number of different job interviews by that point in my life. The concept of strategic culture has become widely used in the field of international relations, primarily in the context of efforts to explain the distinctive Through observation and active listening, you pick up what you normally do not see. So, I must have answered the question fairly effectively. As in peer learning, talking to someone else gives you the opportunity to break down your thinking processes. (CQ) and the steps that you will need to take to develop your cultural strategic thinking and to cultivate your behavioural cultural intelligence. Mic drop? So, my team has already scheduled one-on-one training sessions with them before the rollout. Basically, every time that I reached the new goal, I just increased the goal. This is where you lay out all your steps and timelines to reach your goal. Weve been using the principles from ancient times for a long time. "text": "Strategic Thinking is a process of identifying ways to move a person, team, or organization toward a long-term goal. Working with peers to question and explore cultural interactions to resolve cultural problems. Earley and PetersonEarley & Peterson (2004). I have a passion for healthcare and medical innovations. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. "acceptedAnswer": { evaluate the strategies you have put in place. He has over 15 years of industry experience in multiple domains, including industrial engineering and information technology. Strategies help you in achieving your vision or goal. These new habits move you toward the big change. I encourage you to write down your emotions and feelings, the ambiguities and inconsistencies, and the challenges and successes of working interculturally. Google Drive Makeover: Organizing Files and Folders. The leadership world has a few strategic leadership styles. He would say things like, Just so you know, my boss gets a copy of all these exit surveys Turns out he wasnt a great instructor, but his students really liked him. Next, decide what outcome you want to achieve in each scenario. Keep in mind that tactics are designed around your overall Strategy, which leads you toward your vision. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 }, Corporate Office The Leaders Institute 2016 E Randol Mill Rd, Suite 417, Arlington, TX 76011 (800) 872-7830, Helpful Links About | Mission | Values Our Instructors History Careers Free Team Bonding Tips, Team Events and ActivitiesCorporate Charity EventsCharity Bike BuildGolf Team ActivityTeam Obstacle CourseTeddy Bear Team Building, Fun Team ActivitiesGroup Murder MysteryTeam Escape Room (Virtual)Fun Game Show Comedy Improv Training Outdoor Team Activities Team Treasure Hunts, Classroom Training SeminarsLeadership Training SessionsPresentation Skills SeminarsLeadership SkillsFree Team Building TipsContact Information, 2002 - 2020 The Leaders Institute, LLC. Strategic thinking is really nothing more than planning on steroids. I have certainly come across leaders who have attended my sessions because leadership told them they had to, and it affects their learning environment in a negative way and often interrupts the learning of their peers. This section of the chapter provides ideas that will help you to increase your cultural strategic thinking. Not every senior leader thinks about their strategic planning process as an opportunity to enhance their organizational culture. So if you are using strategic thinking, how do you know if you need to make an adjustment. In my experience, strategic plans are as important at a personal level as they are at an organizational level and drawing up a strategic plan is not a daunting undertaking. Additionally, per the publisher's request, their name has been removed in some passages. It requires experience with and reflection on the particular business organization to be most effective. Essential in cultural strategic thinking is your ability to conjure and be positive about your learning experiences. WebUtilize the basics of developing and practicing cultural strategic thinking within the Unit 2 reading. In my latest books, I have defined strategic thinking as a top outer-core leadership competency. Tactics: He would conduct a pilot program to test this Strategy. Suspend judgments of people and their beliefs, Be open to experiences that are unfamiliar. You will have doubled your weekly income. Tactics: Theyd give a bunch of different projects to the employees throughout the year so they would have the chance to work in different areas. How do you foster strategic thinking throughout your organization? Forward-thinking, strategic, and commercially-minded global people and culture leader with extensive experience in helping companies rapidly scale internationally, build high-performing collaborative teams, develop internal leadership capability, and foster agile, innovative and purpose-driven cultures. And it all begins with strategic thinking. It is a critical skill in cultural intelligence because the behavior acknowledges that you have really heard what another person has said. Active listening focuses your mind on the speaker, and, if done repeatedly and successfully, you are able to build trust and a relationship with others. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Are you aware that focusing exclusively on streamlining operations, reducing costs, and eliminating errors may threaten your companys long-term survival? This isnt an either-or process: When you first diverge as a team to generate ideas and then converge on a path forward, you improve your ability to design and implement strategic actions. We ask both types of questions, and we choose which ones to ask in any given situation. You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. Acquisition of strategically important subcontractor companies is one example of a tactic employed to accomplish the companys vision of being the best construction company in North America, one of the vision examples earlier. When I see that action, I can capitalize on it. For some of you, the best time might be early morning. The more times that you do this, the more strikes are against you. is your ability to understand, interpret, reflect, and respond to what you have heard. By training your mind to think at a higher level, you create new maps of cultural situations, which help you to function more effectively. According to Harvard Business Review, [Because] organizations face unprecedented challenges, fostering the creativity necessary to develop truly breakthrough ideas has become more important than ever.. The easy answer is to make sure that you are measuring your progress. Time and opportunities fly by, so plan your time and resources strategically to get where you want to go. This content was accessible as of December 29, 2012, and it was downloaded then by Andy Schmitz in an effort to preserve the availability of this book. A strategy that is often employed in the practice of cultural strategic thinking is to create peer-learningWorking with peers to question and explore cultural interactions to resolve cultural problems. That may be because of our tendency to equate strategic thinking with strategic planning. The basics of developing and practicing cultural strategic thinking are to (a) connect new information to the old, (b) select the appropriate strategies, and then (c) plan, Most of us dont even realize we need to learn it ourselves sinceits not taught as a valuable life skill at any point in our lives. In simplistic terms, strategic thinking involves long-term planning for the future. You can do this by reminding yourself or by setting goals centered around the following actions: Active listening is your ability to understand, interpret, reflect, and respond to what you have heard. With strategic thinking, employees at all levels and in all functions continually scan for new ways to contribute to the organizations success. What is the other person feeling, needing, and wanting? Strategic Thinking Simplifies the Difficult. Simply put, strategy is how you plan to achieve a goal. The output of this exercise is your strategic plan. Along the lines of processing your cultural situations out loud, it would be helpful to find a coach or mentor that can help you analyze your thinking. Lets create learning experiences to tackle them, together. Strategy is about the big-picture choices that have a broad and long-term impact. Marilee AdamsAdams (2004). Strategic thinking often falls short because specific outcomes are difficult to trace to original strategic thinking or planning effort. You can do this by using multiple sources and venues. Metacognition simply means thinking about thinking; in this context, thinking about your Lets pause for a second. It will help you determine how to best use your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to advance your plan. Since we had that expertise, we were able to quickly adapt to the new needs of the market. In those cases, you want to increase the goal. Management in Global Economy 100% (8) 6 Discussion 6 }] Cultural intelligence improves my strategic thinking and sits at the core of my approach to planning. Is it really necessary to improve your strategic thinking skills? Cultural strategic thinking may seem overwhelming at first, but as with any new learning, you need to break your plan into smaller steps that will help you to accomplish your goals. You can browse or download additional books there. By letting team members know that speaking up is an important part of their jobs, you free them to provide important input. Some people will talk to themselves; others find it helpful to have someone to talk to. It can facilitate an effective cultural interaction with less conflict, confusion, and frustration. No one can predict tomorrow, but by identifying different scenarios, you and members of your team stretch your thinking about what opportunities and threats might emerge, how they might impact your organization, and what you can do about them. According to Harvard Business Review, [Because] organizations face unprecedented challenges, fostering the creativity necessary to develop truly breakthrough ideas has become more important than ever." You want to have multiple good ideas on the table. Using that cultural situation as a Kodak moment, take the opportunity to reread the picture to see if you really understood how that cultural fact was used. Demonstrated ability to move from strategic thinking to hands-on activities with entrepreneurial thinking. Spend the early part of the strategic planning process identifying multiple possible solutions to each challenge. The goal was to get feedback from participants to improve and move forward with a more comprehensive program. Adapted from Marilee G. Adams, 2004, Change your questions, change your life: 7 powerful tools for life and work, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, p. 49. Determine how the hospital can increase their cultural strategic thinking to ensure patients are addressed with care and compassion regardless of their individual culture and beliefs. By training your mind to think at a higher level, you create new maps of cultural situations, which help you to function more effectively. Think about it as playing cultural detective: You ask your peers questions, and they clarify the information for you, and when they ask you questions, you clarify your thinking process for them. This book is licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license. In gaining cultural knowledge, it is very helpful to get into the habit of checking your facts and knowledge about a culture. There are many definitions of strategic thinking. That forces you to think ahead more than you normally would. Pour your energy into something you are passionate about. Resource Allocation. They work together to help you reach your goals. WebCultural strategic thinking helps you to discard what you think you know and to apply new information concerning what the situation could be. Senior leaders often hire teams of individual contributors to help with strategic problem-solving. Thus it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at the analytic value of strategic culture. WebEmployee Experience boils down to this ONE THING #employeeexperience #strategicthinking You can also change some of your preferences. wrote that learning about a new culture requires putting all the pieces of a pattern together when you do not know the totality of what that whole picture should look like. The ability of an individual to understand, interpret, reflect on, and respond to what that individual just heard. So if you get blindsided with the tell me how you are a strategic thinker question, here is a way to respond. As in peer learning, talking to someone else gives you the opportunity to break down your thinking processes. Through observation and active listening, you pick up what you normally do not see. That is making just a minor, 1% improvement every week for two years. First, youll have to figure out your options and how theyll work in different scenarios. Web2. Because cultural intelligence is intentional, you are also better able to regulate your emotions and feelings. Bring us your leadership development challenges. In cultural strategic thinking, it is important to talk about what you will do or what you have to do. The chances are you had a strategy to achieve this goal in your life. Strategy is a state of mind as much as a documented plan, and a strategic leader must be able to instill that mindset in others. It is a composite of other capabilities such as creative thinking and problem solving. 16 Examples of Strengths for SWOT Analysis, 31 Most Inspiring Business Strategy Quotes, Top 7 Leadership Traits of an Effective Leader, What is Kaizen, how it works and top 12 benefits, How to be a critical thinker Top 7 skills. The important decisions are about solving specific problems. Expert strategic thinkers often credit their success to deliberate practice and life experiences rather than their innate ability. It can be a general guiding principle or a well-organized plan.