Strategy is Everything- Know Where You are Going and Why!

When we are so eager to get to the end results we forget to observe the road signs that  guide us, danger could await.  Everything we do requires a strategic plan.  Some plans are pages long and require months to formulate.  These types of plans are detailed and every step of the process is purposefully planned.  Other strategic plans are shorter and may be in bullet format.   Determining  what needs to be accomplished will dictate how detailed the plan needs to be.  However, taking off down the road without knowing how you are going to get there is dangerous.

Within any business there are the dreamers, the planners, and the implementors and it takes all types to successfully run a business.  Rarely are the dreamers the same people who are the implementors just as the implementors are not necessarily the best dreamers. Know your strength and then play to that strength and hire the person that provides the skills that you lack.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are eager for success and will take off down the road well-intentioned, but not knowing how they are going to get where they “think” they want to go.  There are only  so many hours in day, resources to do the job and money to put towards growing the business.

A strategic plan provides the following information:

1. Identifies the intention  or the purpose.  What is the reason you are doing something and what is the anticipated expectation from this action.   Are you placing an ad in a trade magazine and what do you anticipate will happen from the ad. If you are expecting increased sales, do you have the manpower to handle the new orders?  Remember, there are the dreamers that want to more into uncharted territories, but you need the implementors to fulfill on the expectations.
2. Set up the goals you need to accomplish to reach your intention or purpose.
3. Identifying the approaches you will take to reach the goals that then satisfy the intent or purpose.  Break down the things that need to be done.  This is where you may want to use bullets or outline format.
4. Enlist action plans that you will take to reach the goals. For each action what steps need to be taken.  Identify the internal and external factors to this plan.
5. Monitor the plan and make adjustments as needed along the way.

If you follow a plan (your road map) your trip will have purpose and you will be acting out of strategic thought rather than on a whim that could cost you time and money that you don’t have.

Critical Thinking Can Make You a Better Manager/Leader

Many of you know that I teach critical thinking skills at the undergraduate level.   There is nothing like taking students through syllogisms, inductive and deductive reasoning.

Critical thinking skills are an attribute that every manager and leader should possess.  They should be developed and fine tuned.  Without  even the basic skills, how can any problems ever be solved?   As a manager/leader the problems that you encounter daily are more than  profit based.

Problems that many business leaders are facing now are those of staff.  How to motivate current staff to gain the best out of their skills, knowledge and abilities.  How to handle rapidly changing work environments as the focus shifts on strategic plans.  Where are the talent pools within your work force that you may have overlooked before?

Remember some of those critical thinking skills you learned in your college courses and put them to use.  Break down your problems to bit size pieces and determine if the problem is really valid or invalid at this particular time.  Don’t waste your time on a problem that isn’t really there.  Use your inductive and deductive reasoning skills.

If you can’t remember the basic of critical thinking, it may be time to take a brush up course!  When we don’t use a skill we lose it!