1. MA Sports Management Philip Barnes
Critical Reflection of Strategic Thinking Learning and Development
Personal Evaluation of Strategic Thinking Capability
• Strategic thinking in sports management is a completely new concept to me
although I feel that I have developed well once becoming aware of the
process.
• Identifying the notion has helped me expose, develop and refine inherent skills
that help me think strategically. Abraham (2005) suggests there is no common
set of skills for the strategic thinking person. However;
• I believe mine to be logical liberties such as instinct, creativity, vision and
exploration which I attempt to balance with more analytical sense such as
structure, assessment and investigation. I think I could perhaps be more
analytical and take a bit more time to run through ideas as sometimes I am a
little eager to implement action.
• Strategic thinking and strategic planning complement each other helping
support strategic management (Graetz 2002); tactically being creative yet
analytical to solve problems; According to O’Shannasy (2006, p.16), strategic
management characteristics of ‘planning, leading, directing and controlling are
now embedded and intertwined in each process.”
• Having already explored Schön’s (1983) notion of the reflective practitioner, it
is crucial to reflect upon critical experiences to develop and better yourself for
future instances.
• You need to understand yourself and how you work, how you think and how
you make decisions.
1. Think – Within a certain mindset
2. Explore – Potential change & be creative
3. Challenge – Existing suppositions
4. Identify – New effective action
Knowledge and Understanding of Concepts
• Strategic Thinking - Intent Focus
- Thinking in Time
- Systems Perspective
- Intelligent Opportunism
- Hypothesis Driven Liedtka (1998)
• Creative v. Analytical Thinking – Take away the versus-sign, these two go
hand in hand and are the essence of strategic thinking. One challenges the
norm whereas the other considers whether
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2. MA Sports Management Philip Barnes
• Adaptive thinking skills increase our freedom whereas mechanical thinking
imprisons us (Albrecht 1980); these are basically extremes of creative and
analytical thinking respectively.
• The systems perspective encourages thinkers to think about the wider picture
and its rippling effect. They must bear in mind what change could do to the
market, alliances, customers, society or the environment for example.
Strategic thinkers consider the links and relationships that exist or could be
created. For example, the alliance with the three hotels we recommended…
• Intent focus: strategic intent should have a sense of direction, discovery and
destiny (Hamel & Prahalad 1994)
• Thinking in Time – past (predictive value), present, future, (continuous
comparison) (Neustadt & May 1986)
• Hypothesis Driven – Generate (What If??) Creative Test (If Then?)
Analytical
1. Current Reality
2. Strategic Thinking – This disrupts alignment
3. Desired Future
4. Strategic Planning – This creates alignment Liedtka (1998)
Strategic Thinking Process
• Organization – who? Micro – individuals macro – organisations (Bonn 2005)
• Observation – looking down
• Views – environmental, marketplace, project, measurement
• Driving Forces – What?
• Ideal Position – Where?
A lot of emphasis on putting strategic work in print, however Mintzberg (1980)
considers the most significant strategic efforts are communicated verbally.
Innovation – idea generation, culture and decision making help unlock innovation
value (Van Gundy 2005)
SWOT, TOWS, PESTEL, BOSTON, PORTERS (Limited)
Strategy establishes direction, manages resources more effectively and helps an
organisation respond effectively to change.
Encourage a Creative Climate, an open environment for ideas and views to be shared
and discussed.
“It all comes down to the ability to go up and down the ladder of abstraction, and
being able to see both the big picture and the operational implications, which are signs
of outstanding leaders and strategists” (Heracleos 1998, p.487)
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3. MA Sports Management Philip Barnes
References
Albrecht, K. (1980) Brain Power: Learn to Improve Your Thinking Skills. London:
Simon & Schuster.
Bonn, I. (2005) Improving Strategic Thinking: A Multilevel Approach. Leadership
and Organization Development Journal, 26(5):336-354
Graetz, F. (2002) Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning: Towards Understanding
the Complementarities. Management Decision, 40(5/6):456-462
Hamel, G., Prahalad, C.K. (1994) Competing for the Future. Boston: Harvard School
Press.
Heracleos, L. (1998) Strategic Thinking or Strategic Planning. Long Range Planning,
31(3):481-487.
Liedtka, J. (1998) Strategic Thinking: Can It Be Taught? Long Range Planning,
31(1):120-129
Mintzberg, H. (1980) The Nature of Managerial Work. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Neustadt, R., May, E. (1986) Thinking in Time. New York: Free Press.
O’Shannasy, T. (2006) Making Sense of Strategic Thinking Literature to Help Build a
New Model of this Mysterious Construct. Queensland: ANZAM Conference Paper.
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Michigan: Basic Books.
Van Gundy, A.B. (2005) The Care and Framing of Strategic Innovation Challenges.
Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma.
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