Strategic Thinking for Doing Great Business in Africa

In the field of warfare, strategy is very important for success. Indeed, the word strategy has its origin in “Fr[rench] stratégie, from G[ree]k stratUgia ‘generalship’, from stratUgos” or to be a general. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

In all aspects of life, strategic thinking is very important; for “life is war”, as the adage goes. One notable area where the issue of strategy and strategic thinking is very important is business. Businesses operate in an environment with numerous opportunities as well as challenges. To be able to take advantage of the opportunities and navigate around the challenges, a very good strategic plan is required. This is where strategic thinking comes in.

While strategic thinking and strategic planning are distinct, they are interrelated and complementary through processes that must sustain and support one another for effective strategic management. The role of strategic thinking is “to seek innovation and imagine new and very different futures that may lead the company to redefine its core strategies and even its industry”. Strategic planning’s role is “to realize and to support strategies developed through the strategic thinking process and to integrate these back into the business.”–F.Graetz

This article will seek to answer the following questions: What does strategic thinking mean? What makes strategic thinkers? And how can one develop the ability of strategic thinking?

What It Means

According to the Centre for Applied Research (USA) “Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction. It is the input to strategic planning—good strategic thinking uncovers potential opportunities for creating value and challenges assumptions about a company’s value proposition, so that when the plan is created, it targets these opportunities. Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and rigorously (and playfully) challenging conventional thinking about them, in conversation with others.”

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

Dr. Seuss

According to Wikipedia, “Recent strategic thought points ever more clearly towards the conclusion that the critical strategic question is not “What?” (usually addressed by conventional thinking), but “Why?” (or “How?”)”. Strategic thinking, therefore, has its roots in the quest to challenge the status quo and find answers to the “whys?” and the “hows?”

What Makes Strategic Thinkers

Generally, strategic thinkers believe that there is always another way of looking at things and doing things; and that may as well be the best one. Their way of looking at things is more like what Dr. Seuss said: “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

 George S. Patton

There are certain qualities that should be cultivated by strategic thinkers in playing their roles successfully. Here are some of those:

Patience: Strategic thinkers should not hasten to make and implement decisions. While acknowledging the importance of doing things at the right time, they should be balanced. An anxious person can hardly think straight to make sound decisions. For a strategic thinker, even if it takes years to find the right answer, it is worth the wait. And that is to be desired more than rushing into a decision frantically only to regret later.

Often, one reason why some would rush into a decision is because they are scared of what will happen in the future; the “what ifs?”. Yet the truth is that often the things that scare us the most are those that never happen. A calm and reasonable disposition is thus very critical to being a good strategic thinker.

Listening: No single man is the epitome of wisdom. That is why strategic thinking is a collaborative and integrative activity. Thus it calls for being ready and able to listen to the views expressed by others, even if such don’t make sense to a party. In doing so, the engagement would be more stimulating and refreshing than if one party dominates discussions. This is especially important when others that are subordinates are involved. For, while strategy is largely currently a top management function, a more progressive organization would be more democratic in charting a creative strategic course by engaging subordinates.

Being different: As noted earlier, one thing that makes people strategic thinkers is looking at things differently. By so doing, a strategic thinker does not allow the popular things that people say or do to unduly influence his decisions; neither do they alter his emotions. He knows exactly what he’s doing and where he’s headed and focuses on that, not allowing distractions to derail him.

Thinking “crazy”: As a corollary to the above, the strategic thinker is “crazy”. He does not think and act the way everyone else does. And that makes people think that he’s mad but actually very sane. “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” (George S. Patton) The strategic thinker likes to think; and he does it differently. Thus while others may accept the status quo, he comes in with his “whys” and “hows”. This irritates others and they tag him crazy; but could the converse rather be true?

Be a Strategic Thinker

Strategic thinkers are not extraordinary. They are simply human. And since we are all endowed with an enquiring mind by nature, we can all develop the ability of a strategic thinker. Here are some steps to take towards that:

Be Resolute: They say “no man is an island”. This implies that we all need the company of others; or better still, we should fit into society to function properly. Strategic thinkers thus are cognizant of societal norms and values and they respect such. However, to be a strategic thinker, you don’t have to allow society to drive you its way. The axiom “The voice of the people is the voice of God” is very, very misleading. What is popular is not necessarily good or right. So you don’t have to swallow everything people say line-hook-and-sinker. For example, in the sight of society, one who fails exams is dumb. If that were true, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill would have been among that pack. Yet we know differently. 

Look beyond the obvious: As they say, “Empty barrels make the most noise”. Similarly, society’s matter-of-course may sound plausible just because it’s on the lips and hearts of the majority. A discerning person, however, is wise to examine and analyse critically these for himself; challenge them. In so doing, he’ll see things differently.

Build confidence in your uniqueness: Usually everyone does their things in the same way, by-and-large, because someone or a group of elites has decided to set standards for others to live by. And those standards, once accepted by society, become the yardstick for measuring people’s intellect, abilities and actions, among others. Yet we were all created uniquely. The fact that our fingerprints differ testifies that our strengths and weaknesses differ, yet they complement one another’s. However, you would not be able to exploit the unique qualities that you possess if you don’t build that confidence in your uniqueness to unearth the talents that you’re endowed with.

Strategic Thinking in Business

As the definition of strategic thinking at the outset of the article asserts, strategic thinking in business is not necessarily one person’s business. Its goal is achieved “by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction.” Strategic thinking thus is a process for action in new and more creative directions. It “is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and rigorously (and playfully) challenging conventional thinking about them, in conversation with others.”

Through strategic thinking, a company’s business, practices, processes, policies, procedures and the like are placed under the microscope, as it were, through an engagement of scrutiny in order to fine-tune those phenomena while eliminating defective elements. This helps to place the company on a very sound footing. Strategic thinking is thus very imperative for innovation, for creativity and for business development. It is an activity that should be encouraged. And those engaging in it should cultivate the right qualities that would enable them to succeed.

The author Jules Nartey-Tokoli is Founder and Group CEO at Groupe Soleil Vision, comprising Soleil Consults (US), LLC, NubianBiz.Com, ShopNubian.Com and Soleil Publications. He has lived and worked in both Ghana and the United States, having extensive experience in Strategy, Management, Entrepreneurship, Premium Audit Advisory and Web consulting. He has also published several articles on Strategy, Management, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Economics, e-Commerce, Information Technology (IT), Customer Service/Care, Sales, Marketing, Communication, Branding, Education, among others. 

Jules Nartey-Tokoli

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