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Improve Your Strategic Thinking – Part One

By David Kidd, BPR

This article is the first in a six-part series.

The real value in strategic thinking isn’t just in generating ideas or in making better decisions. it’s about building a framework that future-proofs your radio station and provides you with the best chance of achieving long-term success.

Here’s the first tip on how to become a better strategic thinker.

Step 1. Reflect

Forbes states that “strategic thinkers are more observant and reflective than the average person. Strategic thinkers do it differently. They understand and dig deeper with regards to analyzing processes, developing and applying performance metrics, collecting data and producing analytics to make more informed decisions. Strategic thinkers have high levels of critical thinking skills. When it comes to decision making, they are more contemplative”.

The Harvard Business Review : “Strategic people create connections between ideas, plans and people that others fail to see.”

But you can only make those connections if you give your mind the chance to see them.

In other words, to think strategically you need time to actually think. Great strategic decisions are rarely made on the spur of the moment; they are carefully thought through, allowing time to consider all possibilities and ramifications.

One method suggested by behavioural psychologists to give yourself “thinking time” is to schedule a time every day or every week where you focus your mind on simply thinking. It doesn’t matter how or where you choose to do your thinking, just ensure it happens regularly. As they say, practice makes perfect …… the more often you do it, the better you’ll become.