What are the most effective ways to communicate strategic thinking ideas?

?? Personally, I believe that a clear framework is not just about structuring ideas but also about enhancing the strategic communication process. ?? Customization of Frameworks Adapting frameworks to fit your organization enhances their relevance. Modify SWOT or Porter’s Five Forces to align with unique challenges, making strategic thinking actionable. ?? Integrating Cross-Functional Insights Encourage input from diverse functions for a holistic view. Develop strategies collaboratively, reflecting a comprehensive understanding of your organization. ?? Dynamic Updating Keep frameworks adaptable to change. Regularly revisit and revise them in response to shifts, ensuring ongoing relevance.

The most effective ways to communicate strategic thinking ideas include using clear, concise language and relatable examples to make complex concepts accessible. Visual aids like diagrams or presentations can help convey the strategic vision and its components effectively. Regular, interactive sessions such as workshops or meetings encourage feedback and engagement, ensuring that the team understands and aligns with the strategic ideas.

Make it part of your job to continuously collect mental models and frameworks that you can apply and reapply in future work. Your goal should be to create a "latticework of models" that you can intentionally use and combine to break down and analyze ideas from different angles.

I always come back to Simon Sinek’s “start with why” principles. People need to understand why before they are able to engage with the how and the what. Regardless of your topic, starting with why is a very strong way to communicate an idea.

In my experience, you're better able to build support for your ideas or approach when you know why, and can clarify how, when and who benefits or must act under fairly defined scenarios. Being able to anticipate broad risks, their likelihood and how they can be managed is usually very helpful. The biggest challenge is that most people aren't comfortable with uncertainty and comfortably thinking through contingencies, including reevaluating and updating each as new information is provided. This means the size of the group that you need to bring along will be a major factor. Perhaps this is why higher level or more consequential strategic proposals are often reserved for smaller groups. Admittedly, I prefer smaller and more engaged groups.

When writing strategic rationales, it's easy to get lost in advanced phrases and "hyped words". It's a good rule of thumb to ELI5 (explain it like I'm 5), both to check your own actual understanding of the subject, and to simplify it for more effectively communicating with the audience.