How Real Value is Created—Mastering the Art of Strategic Thinking

Being effective vs being efficient

Whether you’re a maker, a manager, or a leader, at some point you have to ask yourself if what you’re doing on a daily basis is actually moving the needle.

Taking a long hard look at your contribution will answer the question of whether you’re focused on being efficient only (doing things right), or if you’re actually contributing to overall effectiveness (doing the right things).

At the end of the day it makes no difference how hard you’re working if what you are working at is not making any real progress.

So when it comes to positioning yourself or your work as valuable, first make sure that you’re being effective before focusing on being efficient.

What is strategy?

Mastering the art of strategic thinking is the best way to transition from creative busyness to productivity and, as a result, effectiveness.

“A business strategy is a set of guiding principles that, when communicated and adopted in the organization, generates a desired pattern of decision-making. A strategy is therefore about how people throughout the organization should make decisions and allocate resources in order to accomplish key objectives.” (Michael D Watkins, Demystifying Strategy)

Strategic thinking is not concerned with the day-to-day tactics of implementation, scheduling and management.

Strategic thinking only asks these three questions:

1. What do we need to accomplish?
2. What do we need to do in order to be successful?
3. Which obstacles might hinder our progress and which factors might boost our momentum?

How to cultivate strategic thinking

Although there might be many theories about how to implement a good strategy, we prefer to keep it simple and straightforward.

Systematically working through the questions below will enable you to crystalise the core components of any clear and actionable strategy.

1. Start with the end in mind

You can’t craft a strategy without first determining what success looks like. Knowing the destination enables the traveller to plot a desirable route. Being clear about the goals and objectives of the business on a high level empowers the strategic leader to develop a plan of action that will realise said objectives.

• Define short, medium and long-term business goals.
• Ensure that each objective is measurable.
• Create a clear strategy for each objective.

2. Design a simple and logical roadmap

Taking each objective at a time, the next step is to determine which key activities, sub-goals or milestones need to be achieved in order to realise the bigger picture.

Employing logical and reasonable thinking here is key, since each milestone should be a natural outflow from the previous one, and in turn also set the scene for the next.

1. Keep to between five and eight key milestones per strategy.
2. Illustrate the strategic roadmap in a visual sense to make it clear, and easy to understand.
3. Communicate each milestone to all stakeholders and team members.

3. Consider all factors

No strategy exists in complete isolation.

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” (Mike Tyson)

Keeping real-world conditions in mind will serve you well in making sure the intended result of your strategy comes to pass. After finalising the strategic roadmap, keep account of all potential threats and opportunities that might respectively hinder or boost your success.

1. Which factors might act as threats, hindrances or obstacles on the way?
2. Which factors might be opportunities that can potentially boost our strategy?
3. How do we anticipate outside factors and adjust our strategy accordingly?

The best way to fail at strategy

The most important part of any strategy actually has nothing to do with strategy at all.

Not executing your plans is the best way to fail at strategy, no matter how good or applicable the strategy might have been.

Therefore any strategy is incomplete if it doesn’t also include a concrete plan of action on how to execute and implement all the strategic factors.

1. Create a detailed project plan for implementing your strategy.
2. Assign dates, roles and responsibilities to even the most granular outcomes.
3. Regularly follow up to track progress and adjust accordingly.

Your next step

Although the strategy is important throughout all the spheres of business, it is specifically imperative when it comes to the areas of brand, communication and customer experience.

Being intentional with choosing outcomes, planning a route, anticipating outside factors and leaning into action is key to establishing a business reputation, trust and credibility.

KRAFT designsmiths? is a strategic partner to all our clients. Above and beyond our creative prowess we are masters at crafting strategies that not only lead to brand success, but ultimately build businesses.

Don’t allow your brand and communication efforts to fall flat for a lack of strategy and intention. Partner with the KRAFT designsmiths? team to ensure your business goes from strength to strength.

See some of our latest projects and book your session with our team.