4. “ The most important benefit of strategic thinking is
the resultant strategic shared vision
among your management team ”
Birnbaum,B (2004). Strategic Thinking: A Four Piece Puzzle
….how do you think?
5. The most successful
organizations are
Companies that cultivate an
environment that allows for peak
individual performance are
rewarded with peak company
performance.
Conley, Chip (2007) PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow
6. creates motion: avoids ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers :
By asking questions focused on ‘how can we Questions that can only have binary answers leave
move?’, they are dynamic and don’t allow a the person being asked in an uncreative and passive
situation to stay stuck. state.
creates options: question empowers:
‘What don’t you [do x]?’ is a question that is
dynamic in one direction. A strategic opens
‘What would you like to do to [achieve your goal]?’
opens the options up… ‘What would you like to there is a confidence expressed that they can
do?’ contribute to the process.
digs deeper:
Questions can be like a lever you use to pry open asks the unaskable questions:
the stuck lid on a paint can. A short lever will only For every individual, group, or society, some
just crack open that lid. But if we have a longer questions are taboo. A strategic question often
lever, or a more dynamic question, we can pry off challenges the values that an issue rests upon.
the lid and really stir things up. Asking taboo questions in a nonpartisan way can
be a great service to anyone with an issue on which
avoids ‘why’: she or he is ‘stuck.’
Most ‘why’ questions force you to defend an
existing decision or rationalize the present. ‘Why’
questions can create resistance to change.
Peavy, Fran (1997) Strategic Questioning: An Experiment in Communication of the Second Kind
7. A note from the President
The most important factor in becoming a
strategic contributor is the ability to create
organizational cultures that focus
on the meeting the needs of
external customers.
Susan Meisinger
Former President/CEO of Society
for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Meisinger, Susan (2003, August) Strategic contributions: the crucial competency. HR Magazine.
8. Keys to being a
Strategic Contributors
1. Use culture to align executive and employee
behavior with desired business outcomes
2. Facilitate “fast change”
3. Identify problems that are central to business
strategy, provide alternatives and bring an
intellectual perspective to the process
4. Keep employees connected to the marketplace
Meisinger, Susan (2003, August) Strategic contributions: the crucial competency. HR Magazine.
9. “Great things to happen
by using common sense
and operational savvy
as ways of doing
business.”
Ask yourself:
How well do I know our operations?
10. DallasHR President
Chair, Graduate School of Business
Professional Academic
• Talent Management • Ph.D. in O.B. & Education
• Culture Change Initiatives • Marketing Doctorate Focus
• Organization/Business Change Initiatives • Curriculum Design
• Contingency Plans • Research through U.N.T.
• Curriculum Design & Development
• Corporate Partnerships
• Many leadership
opportunities/capacities
