How can you make your strategic thinking more creative and innovative?

Challenge your assumptions: Strategic thinking often relies on established assumptions about the market, competitors, or internal capabilities. To enhance creativity, question these assumptions regularly. Consider alternative perspectives and ask "what if" scenarios. This challenges the status quo and opens up new possibilities. Embrace a mindset that encourages curiosity and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, fostering a more innovative approach to problem-solving.

Given this whole thread is about creative approach - I will be creative with my responses. As a business mindset coach, I'm always snorkeling beyond the surface of conventional thinking. ?? Like a pearl diver, I plunge into the depths of 'what if' and 'how comes,' Not 'why did that happen' Keep challenging the murky waters of assumptions to find those gleaming pearls of innovation. Let's turn problems into stepping stones, shall we? ??LFG

Boost creativity in your strategy by challenging what you assume to be true. Often, our assumptions are based on old habits or beliefs that can hold us back. Use simple methods like asking 'why' multiple times or doing a SWOT Analysis to really question and rethink these assumptions, paving the way for innovative ideas.

In the ever-evolving business environment, creativity and innovation are indispensable components of strategic thinking. Cultivating an environment that fosters creativity and innovative approaches to strategic decision-making can set the stage for sustainable success. A big component of this is allowing people to fail fast, learn from it, and continually improve on things. Allow them to be curious, ask questions and engage in healthy discourse to challenge the status quo.

Given this whole thread is about creative approach - I will be creative with my responses. As a business mindset coach, I'm always snorkeling beyond the surface of conventional thinking. ?? Like a pearl diver, I plunge into the depths of 'what if' and 'how comes,' Not 'why did that happen' Keep challenging the murky waters of assumptions to find those gleaming pearls of innovation. Let's turn problems into stepping stones, shall we? ??

Let's all become explorers ! To gather hidden treasures we need to visit every shore. I learnt this first hand by working in around the world, in the Middle East, USA, Europe and Oz ! Diverse perspectives are the jewels of creativity, each a different hue and lustre. It's like assembling a treasure chest, where every piece tells a story of possibility. ??

Embrace curiosity and seek input from a diverse audience. Often times the best of ideas come from the most untapped resources.

To think more creatively, involve people with different backgrounds and look outside your industry for inspiration. Listening to customers, team members, and mentors, and studying other markets can bring new ideas and fresh approaches to your strategy.

The workforce, especially in this hybrid world is much more diverse and there is so much value to welcoming diverse thoughts, opinions and experiences. Encourage diverse perspectives and experiences within the team. Different viewpoints can lead to the cross-pollination of ideas, sparking innovative approaches to strategic challenges.

Once a quarter, I spend a day out of the office with the purpose of going as many places as I can - work and personal errands and dining. At each stop I make a note about something I liked and something I would improve. With my notes, I think about how those likes and dislikes can apply to my business. This exercise helps me consider things I normally don’t.

In my world, the startup space, experimentation and iteration are key to pretty much everything. Including creative and strategic thinking. We apply methodologies like the Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and Agile, so we can rapidly test ideas, learn from user feedback, and adapt strategies. These approaches encourage us to build quickly, fail fast, and iterate faster, ensuring we're always aligned with market needs and customer preferences. This not only accelerates innovation but also optimizes our strategic thinking process, making it more creative AND effective.

I'm all for experimenting - it's like throwing paint on a canvas and seeing what sticks. ???? s ometimes, you end up with a masterpiece, other times, it's back to the drawing board. Test Measure and Tweak each attempt brings a spark of innovation.

Dive into experimenting with your ideas and tweaking them based on what you learn. This approach lets you test out assumptions and sharpen your strategies, opening doors to new possibilities. Using methods like Lean Startup or Agile can make this process structured and more effective, driving your strategic thinking towards innovation.

Creating a culture of innovation and creativity requires space for the team to implement solutions that don't have to be perfect. The ability to iterate and adapt creates a more flexible environment leading to more substantial change.

I worked with a senior leader who included the question "tell me about a time when you failed" whenever he interviewed someone new. If the person couldn't come up with a failure, they were eliminated from the candidate list. We must try and fail a few times before we can achieve ultimate success. Failure is scary. No one wants to fail, but the truth is if you always play it safe, you'll struggle with innovation.

When you do something you enjoy, when you know it automatically just right. Playing to your strengths is like dancing to your favourite song - move with confidence and joy, your strategic thinking naturally becomes more innovative and effective.

Using your strong points can really power up your strategy game. Knowing what you're good at and applying those skills can make your planning more confident and inventive. Simple tools like StrengthsFinder or even a SWOT Analysis can help you figure out your strengths and use them to think more creatively about your business strategy.

In order to effectively embrace the growth mindset one needs to adopt the belief that one never actually fails, but instead learns. Every scenario, regardless of the immediate outcome (positive or negative) is actually progressive as it is equally as important to tabulate what NOT to do as it is what is! This approach often leads to the realization that what most consider a failure is merely poor timing as opposed to it being inept. e.g. Doorbot gone Ring.

To adopt a growth mindset, you must first understand the fixed mindset (the belief that skills, intellect and talents are set and unchangeable) and learn how to shed those beliefs. Be open to learning new strategies and methodologies.

Growth Mindset? Please, It's become a buzzword and people now brush over it and drop it in everywhere. ?? As a mindset coach, I'm here to shake things up. Forget the cozy 'Growth Mindset' chat by the fireplace. It's time for a mindset revolution. ???? Enter the 'Quest Mindset'—it's not just growth; it's an epic adventure. Think Indiana Jones, instead of ancient relics, you're uncovering your potential. ????? You're the hero if you choose to be.

Adopting a growth mindset is key to boosting creativity in your strategies. It's about believing you can get better through effort and learning from setbacks. This mindset pushes you to seek feedback and embrace challenges, keeping you on a path of constant improvement. Tools like mindset charts or journals can help you stay focused on growth, making your strategic planning more innovative.

Having a growth mindset allows you to see challenges as opportunities and leads to creativity in your thinking and implementation of problem-solving.

There is no silver bullet of success in business or life. Collaboration is the secret ingredient for tapping into perspective and enhancing your creativity. ???? When we share ideas and work together, it’s like a summer BBQ; everyone brings something, making the variety richer and more diverse.

?? Dive into great books, philosophy, and the history of civilization's development and explore art, science, beliefs, religions, cultures, and perspectives. This will broaden your viewpoint, leveraging human achievements and learning from failures to uncover recurring patterns and invaluable lessons: the broader your knowledge, the more inventive your ideas. ?? Linking historical insights with today's realities will help you predict and shape future trends, creating forward-looking, resilient strategies. Reflect on these insights and innovatively apply them to modern challenges, significantly enhancing your strategic thinking with depth and creativity.

Don't forget the power of a good story. ??? Tells stories, we love them as kids as our brains are still full of imagination. The older we become the more logical we become. So by wrapping your strategy in compelling narratives Will: Captivate and inspire, Stop being boring & mundane become extraordinary.

You can't think 'outside the box' if you don't have a box. First, be clear about the box you are in - what are the constraints against which you are straining? Regulation? Resource Scarcity? Market Forces? Once you're clear on that, then you can introduce artificial constraints to stimulate ideation; what if we had half the budget? Or double? What if our no.1 seller became obsolete overnight? What if the market leader went bust? This double layer of box - reality and artificiality - can really stimulate creativity.

Creative thinking is not simply, "you haven't thought of this. So here's something new." Creative thinking is: "you have been trying this. Here's why it's not working. Here's something different." Creativity comes from disruption. Disrupting the status quo. Disrupting the common advice. Disrupting what most believe is the "correct way." The courage to disrupt and advocate for a new paradigm is where you will find your most valuable creative thinking.

Strategic thinking is about Direction and Focus. Where are we going and why that? Most strategic thinking I see is tactics.