The Walker Group

Mindset 4: Think Strategically

Make decisions within the context of a view of the future

Make assumptions about the future based on analysis of forces driving change and new paradigms and frameworks

Focus on ways the organization could perform differently for the purpose of gaining a significant competitive advantage

On-the-Job

Take responsibility for solving a problem that has long-term implications Participate in a multi-functional, cross-unit task force to learn their various missions, objectives and plans Relate company/unit strategies to the corporate vision and values Review company/unit strategic plans and prepare an analysis on their ability to create competitive advantage Participate in company/unit strategic planning process

Education and Training

  • Strategic Decision Making and Critical Thinking (Cornell University, 607-255-4251, 1 week, $4300)
  • The Wharton School (215-898-1776)
       ---Critical Thinking: Real-World, Real-Time Decisions, 3 days, $3750
       ---Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage, 5 days, $5950
  • The Wharton Human Resource Business School:Aligning Human Resources to Business Strategy (The Wharton School, 215-898-1776, 6 days, $5950)
  • Critical Internal Communication Strategies for the Restructurin Company (Institute for International Research, 941-951-7885)
  • American Management Association (518-891-1500)
       ---Thinking and Managing Strategically, 3 days, $1495
       ---Creative Problem Solving, Self-Study, $140 Managing Strategic Responsibilities (Kepner Tregoe, 800-223-0482)
  • Systems Thinking (Linkage, Inc., 781-862-3157, 2 days, $995)

Reading

  • John Seely Brown (ed.), Seeing Differently: Insights on Innovation (Harvard Business Review Press, 1997)
  • Jennifer Jones, Thinking in the Future (Simon & Schuster, 1996)
  • Roger Kaufman, Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems (ASTD/ISPI, 1996)
  • Leslie Kossoff, Executive Thinking: The Dream, the Vision, the Mission Achieved (Davies-Black Publishing, 1999)
  • Ikijiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Tekeuchi, The Knowledge Creating Company: How Japan Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation (Oxford University Press, 1996)
  • C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel, Competing for the Future (Harvard Business School Press, 1994)
  • Adrian J. Slywotzky, Value Migration: How to Think Several Moves Ahead of the Competition (Harvard Business School Press, 1995)
  • Quinn Spitzer and Ron Evans, Heads You Win: How the Best Companies Think (Simon & Schuster, 1997)
  • Ernie J. Zelinski, The Joy of Thinking Big (Ten Speed Press, 1998)

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