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Improve Your Strategic Thinking – Part Three

By David Kidd, BPR

This article is the third 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 next tip on how to become a better strategic thinker.

Step 3. Broaden Your Horizons

Learning is a lifelong experience. Our ability to succeed depends a great deal on how willing we are to expose ourselves to new information and on how well we process that new information to come up with something fresh and new.

Strategic thinking and curiosity go hand in hand …the more ideas and experiences you’re exposed to, the more material you have with which to make decisions.

Try to experience new things, new places and new people. Get out of your daily routine from time to time. Ask questions. Google different websites for news and information.

Einstein made a profound statement about staying curious: “Don’t think about why you question, simply don’t stop questioning. Don’t worry about what you can’t answer, and don’t try to explain what you can’t know. Curiosity is its own reason. Aren’t you in awe when you contemplate the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure behind reality? And this is the miracle of the human mind — to use its constructions, concepts, and formulas as tools to explain what man sees, feels and touches. Try to comprehend a little more each day. Have holy curiosity.”

Psychologists believe that the best strategic thinkers are T-shaped. The bar on the top of the ‘T’ represents the breadth and extent of their knowledge, while the stem represents a deep understanding of their own area of expertise. T-shaped people are ambidextrous thinkers……they are highly skilled in a specialist area but they also have a great deal of knowledge or expertise in many other areas.

As a programmer, you not only need to have expertise in your specialised field to succeed but you also need a broad arsenal of knowledge not just in the world around you but within your own radio station.

When was the last time you had a conversation with your sales director to learn more about their side of the business?