What do you do if your organization is struggling to achieve success without strategic thinking?

I agree with Granger, but I would add also to the assessment phase need to identify the biggest bottlenecks that do not allow the company to adapt as fast it could/should or will become crippling if continuously ignored. It should be covered with SWOT, but often those do not end there. Ishikawa diagram is good for that. Assessing team wouldn’t be bad idea also. Does the organisation has a growth mentality, do you have high-performing teams?

Sometimes we are so caught in daily work that assessing our organisations's reality takes a back seat. If ignored for a long time then it can lead to serious consequences. Regular assessment of the current organisations's situation is a must for a leader. The clear understanding of our Strategic goal and the path to achieve it is a must. There are many ways to assess the current situation. SWOT analysis, Competitor's activities, Market conditions and demands, etc.

The first step is to pause and assess the current situation. Ask yourself, "What is our North Star?" Identifying your overarching goal can be a beacon, guiding you through the day to day issues. Then, cultivate a culture where "Great conversations = fabulous results." Engage your team in open dialogues to surface innovative ideas and perspectives. Remember, "Leadership can be learnt," and part of that learning involves listening and integrating diverse insights to chart a more strategic course.

When setting a vision, you must consider two approaches. The first is to take an outside-in view; do unconstrained thinking to set your aspirations and work backwards. The second is to consider your starting point and set your aspirations through potential strategic plays. The aligned vision will typically be a convergence of both approaches

Your strategic plan must consider three elements viz. strengthening and growing the core business, acquire / divest new businesses / capabilities, and new venture / business model creation. You must be cognizant that these elements will mature over different time horizons. Ensuring an enabling environment, frequent, and consistent communication is key for stakeholder alignment to buy into the strategy.

In my experience, while setting a clear vision and strategic planning are essential, it's often in the execution phase where many companies face challenges. Execution requires effective communication, alignment of resources, and a relentless focus on implementation. Without these elements, even the best-laid plans can fail. It's important for organisations to invest time and resources into building strong capabilities in communications and project management to ensure strategic initiatives are successfully implemented and drive meaningful results.

In a world that pushes us to think short-term, it is hard to have a long-term view; hence, strategic thinking is usually considered a job for the executive leadership team. Research shows that companies that provoke their executives to think strategically and engage the teams on long-term plans have an advantage. My favorite case is HubSpot. HubSpot's success is a result of its unique marketing approach, which combines existing concepts like blogging, eBooks, and marketing into a comprehensive, innovative content marketing product. HubSpot has built a business worth billions around its new marketing approach and has proved how powerful its approach is.

Strategic thinking is a muscle that must be developed. Talent must be comfortable with ambiguity and the fact that they won't have all the answers; a culture of adaptability is critical. This ensures that while an organization embarks on a strategic initiative, they can course correct, if required. This ability is a critical differentiator in business.