Strategic Thinking

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Key Idea

How might you enhance your ability to see relationships, patterns, and trends? The following techniques can help:

• Get to know people in other functional groups by volunteering to serve on cross-functional teams or committees. Find out these groups' strategies and goals, and compare them to your group's objectives to assess whether they fit— or whether you're working at cross-purposes.
• Obtain a copy of your company's organization chart. Find out what major functions other groups in your company are responsible for and how these groups affect your group's work—and vice versa. Ask your manager or an experienced peer to help explain these connections.
• When examining large quantities of seemingly unrelated data or looking at apparently unconnected events, ask, "What seems to be the common theme underlying the different pieces of information or events? What do the data seem to be telling me?"
• Whenever you hear about or read about a good idea or practice, ask, "How might I apply this approach to my own situation? What common challenges does my group share with this seemingly different group that might mean this good idea could work for us?"
• Track changes over time for performance metrics that are important to your group.

For instance, if customer loyalty, as measured by repeat purchases from key accounts, is vital to your group's performance, monitor customers' repeat purchases and watch for any signs of trouble—such as flattening or declining loyalty, or defection of key customers to a competitor.