Cognitive capacities
In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.
–Miyamoto Musashi
In addition to specific personal traits, behaviors, and attitudes, strategic thinkers demonstrate characteristic cognitive capacities. They:
- Objectively analyze a situation and evaluate the pros, cons, and implications of any course of action
- Grasp abstract ideas and put the "pieces" together to form a coherent picture
- Generate a wide range of options, visualize new possibilities, and formulate fresh approaches to their work
- Factor hunches into their decision-making without allowing their hunches to dominate the final outcome
- Understand the cause-and-effect linkages among the many elements that make up a system—whether the system is their team, unit, or organization, or a project or process