Being Strategic: Plan for Success; Out-Think Your Competitors; Stay Ahead of Change

This definition is really simple, but it's also illuminating. At heart, strategy is all about defining where you want to go, and consistently making the right choices to get there. That's something we all need to be doing, right?

Well, that's what we learn how to do in this book.

And the best news about the book? It's not boring. You won't find any dry, academic theories here. And you won't find yourself nodding off after page 10. The author's writing style is very accessible, friendly and easy to read. She also does a great job keeping readers involved, with questionnaires and activities throughout the book.

Thanks to her, you'll actually finish reading this book. And you'll also have enough information and motivation to go out and use what you learn. Whether you're a CEO or a recent college grad, you're going to find valuable information to help you transform your company, your personal life, or both.

The author, Erika Anderson, is a business consultant and advisor with Proteus International. She's worked with some of the biggest corporations in the world, including NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting, and Rockwell Automation. She's also the author of several books.

So, keep listening to find out how to start thinking strategically, how to avoid becoming paralyzed by potential obstacles, and how to stop your self-talk from influencing your judgment.

"Being Strategic" is divided into two main parts.

In part one we learn exactly what strategy is, and why it's so important to know how to use strategy at work and in our personal lives. We get plenty of practical approaches that teach us how to be more strategic every day, how to create and implement the right strategies, and how to use strategy to define what we most want to do in our lives.

In part two, we learn how to apply strategic thinking when we have to work with groups. Whether you're working with colleagues or your favorite charity, part two will teach you how to get everyone moving towards a common goal. Anyone in a management role is going to benefit from this section.

To help illustrate her points, the author uses a story that runs through the book. It's about a thirteenth-century Welsh nobleman, who wants to build a castle on a hill to defend and protect his people.

This metaphor might seem a bit strange. But surprisingly, it works. The story is woven in and out of the text seamlessly and it keeps things interesting – as well as helping to clarify the author's points.

In chapter one, the author lays out her five-step process for strategic thinking. And like her entire book, it's full of common sense.

In order to get started thinking strategically, we have to first define the problem we're facing. Next, we have to figure out where we're starting from, and what resources we have available. The third step is to envision what our solved problem will look like. The fourth step is to look at what's standing in the way of achieving this reality. And the last step we take is to define our path. That is, what we have to do to make this vision a reality.

The next five chapters explore each of these steps in much greater detail.

Chapter two is where we really start to get into the how of strategy. And here we focus on step one of the five steps: how to clearly define the problem we're facing.

The author makes a great point early on. So many times, she says, we'll be in a meeting and all we do is argue about solutions before we've even defined the problem. One person thinks their solution is best. Another argues that her idea is better.

Most of us move too quickly towards solutions because that just feels better. But we need to define, and understand, the problem we're facing first. Otherwise, we won't really fix anything.

So, how can we figure out the real problem in any given situation?

Start by asking yourself what isn't working about your situation.

Once you can clearly define what isn't working, you need to pose the How Can I? question. For instance, imagine your department isn't coming up with fresh ideas for marketing. So your question would be, How can I create a department that always comes up with innovative, creative ideas?

The last thing you need to do is check to make sure you're on the right track. So look at your How Can I? question again. Ask yourself, if you solved this problem, would you feel like a success? In our fictional example, you're facing a stagnant marketing department. So if you created a marketing department that was really creative and innovative, would you feel like a success?

If the answer is yes, you're on the right track for creating a good strategy to overcome the problem. If the answer's no, then you need to go back to the drawing board and look at your problem again.

Chapter three looks at step two in the author's five-step process to strategic thinking. Here, we learn that once we've defined our problem, we need to take a step back and look at where we're starting from, and what resources we have available to solve our problem.

The author says this is a critical step in strategic thinking, and one that most people get wrong. The most common mistake is focusing too narrowly, or too broadly, on the situation. When we do this, we miss important details that would help us identify the right solution.

Her advice is to pull the camera back, so to speak, and try to look at the situation as objectively as possible. There are some great exercises at the end of this chapter that really help put this theory into practice.

Next, we move on to the third step in strategic thinking. We have to envision what our solved problem looks like. This important step is when you use your imagination and vision to see the reality you want to work towards. Like all the chapters, the author includes a ton of great questions and activities that will spark your imagination and help you hone in on the future you most want to see. These are insightful, and would be useful to use with a group during brainstorming sessions.

Chapter five covers the fourth step in the strategic thinking process. Here, we learn how to discover what obstacles might prevent us from getting to our ideal future. The goal here is to look at our obstacles in a balanced way. We want to see these challenges clearly, not be paralyzed by them.

This is another step commonly skipped in the planning process. If you're in a management role, you might have skipped it yourself once or twice, simply because you don't want to risk demoralizing your team. If you're in a leadership role, this is a chapter you won't want to miss.

So, how can we avoid becoming paralyzed by the number of obstacles in our way? The author says we each have to become a Fair Witness. This means we need to observe and report facts without interpretation or judgment. And we mustn't self-talk, which means we have to cut out all those niggling thoughts and emotions that cloud our judgment.

For instance, imagine you're facing a tough challenge. What are you thinking? It might be: "Wow, I'm never going to be able to do this. I'm lousy at project planning, and the team doesn't respect my authority."

Add five more minutes of internal monolog to that and you'll wind up defeated and demoralized before you've even started.

If eliminating your self-talk sounds tough, it's because it is tough. The author admits that this is a mental skill that takes practice. But she gives us some help here.

If we want to cut out our self-talk, and the resulting rollercoaster of emotions that influence our judgment, we first have to recognize we're doing it.

Next we have to record it. This means you write down your self-talk on paper. Seeing it written down is a real eye-opener. All those thoughts don't seem like they're a part of you, and they don't seem as important as you thought they were either. Usually, you'll read them with a smile on your face because they're so silly!

After we've written down some of our self-talk, we need to revise it. This is a core step in the process. Here, we're going to create new self-talk we believe will lead to a better response. We need to try to be hopeful, and more accurate.

The key here is that you have to think realistically. Being super positive isn't going to be believable for us, so it won't work. We have to look at what we just wrote down, and come up with a more practical response. We thought this was a really useful technique that can be used in several different situations. For instance, if you have a habit of thinking negative thoughts, or letting your thoughts sabotage your self-confidence, going through these steps might help you stop.

Chapter six focuses on the last step in the strategic-thinking process. Here, we learn how to define the path and get going on our plan.

This is a major step. The author devotes several chapters to teaching us how to put our plan into action, and choose the tactics that will best get us where we want to go.

The most useful aspect to these chapters is that they build on everything we just learned, as well as clearly showing the benefits of using strategic thinking.

For instance, how many times have you been in a meeting when a new initiative was proposed? Chances are within minutes, everyone was shouting their own ideas and arguing over details, without any kind of focus or productive conversation. It's as if everyone in the meeting was trying to solve different problems.

Why does this happen?

Well, you should be able to answer that critical question now. It's because defining the true challenge, looking at the resources you have, envisioning the right future, and discussing obstacles should always come first. Only after that should you discuss the tactics and details of how to get there.

All of these steps help us support a common vision. That's what strategy is for.

By this point in the book you'll probably be really excited. The author has done a masterful job clearly explaining, and illustrating, what strategy is and how you can start using it. You might even find yourself saying, "I finally get it!"

Part two of the book is equally motivating, because it's here we learn how to be strategic with a group. As you can probably imagine, this is especially relevant for managers and leaders.

Of course, the author uses the foundation she laid down in the first half of the book. We're going to go through the same steps, asking almost the same questions, but she's tweaked this second half to make it more relevant when working with a group.

Getting your team on board with strategic thinking is going to take some work. But we get some great ideas right off the bat that will help get your people excited and motivated to start thinking strategically. The author also does a great job highlighting the common scenarios and problems that occur in most meetings. You get clear strategies for overcoming these problems, and they're worth their weight in gold.

So what's our last word on "Being Strategic?"

We loved it. This is the kind of book that will be useful for a lot of people. In Book Insights, we've covered several books on strategy, but this is one that will really make the light come on for you, if you're still in the dark about this skill.

By the end of the book you'll have a thorough understanding of what strategy is and, more importantly, why you need to use strategic thinking to solve problems. As you heard earlier, you can use the skills you learn here to improve all aspects of your life, from your career to your personal life.

The author's writing style is fun, simple and clear. And the book is well organized. Information is easy to find, and the activities at the end of every chapter are well thought-out and useful.

We have no problem giving this book a big thumbs up.

"Being Strategic," by Erika Anderson, is published by St. Martin's Press.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.