Sun Tzu "The Art of War". It is an ancient Chinese treatise on military tactics, strategy and politics. Despite the fact that it was written a long time ago, it is still relevant today. It can be used by managers of any level who want to understand what strategy is and how to win any battle.
Kenichi Ohmae "The Thinking Strategist: The Art of Business in Japanese". The author is a management consultant who believed that you can develop any skill, including becoming a good strategist. To do this, you just need to build a certain way of thinking. After reading the book, you will learn to ask the right questions, think and make decisions in a new way.
Avinash Dixit, Barry Nalebuff "Game Theory". Describes kuwait whatsapp numbers the process of making strategic decisions. Using simple and understandable examples from life, two professors show the interaction of people with each other, as well as how a chess game can help build a successful business.
Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tscheppeler "The Book of Solutions. 50 Models of Strategic Thinking". This book can be called a reference book, which contains about 50 models of strategic thinking, supported by brief annotations and illustrations. The manual will be especially useful for beginners who want to see the overall picture to choose the right direction of movement.
Avinash Dixit, Susan Skeet, David Reilly "Games of Strategy". A Google researcher and two economics professors talk about strategy games, their structure and goals. Thanks to this book, you will be able to develop a number of useful management skills, and as a bonus, learn to play chess.
Richard Rumelt "Good Strategy, Bad Strategy". A practical guide aimed at developing strategic thinking, the author of which is a professor at the School of Management at the University of California. In general, the book is about why any company needs a clear strategy. Real examples demonstrate the differences between good and bad strategy.
Games that develop strategic thinking
To develop strategic thinking, you can also regularly play well-known games:
Solving anagrams
These puzzles are very helpful in training the brain and interhemispheric interaction, which plays a role in the development of concentration, speed of thinking and reading. This game gives you four sets of letters to choose from, but only one of them contains letters that are part of the hidden word. The time to choose the right answer is limited. The faster you find the right option, the more points you get at the end of the game.
Children's game of tag
Fifteen puzzles are great for developing speed and flexibility of thinking. You are required to arrange the numbers of the tiles in order so that the empty square is at the bottom right. The game develops memory, attention and logical thinking. It also develops the ability to predict several moves in advance, avoiding erroneous actions.
Chess game
Chess is a truly brilliant game, during which you must use logic, the skill of building a strategy and predicting the next moves of your opponent. The only downside is that you need to play this game with someone. But this is also solved in the modern world thanks to online games.
Chess game
Source: shutterstock.com
The main goal of the game is to leave no available moves to your opponent, i.e. checkmate the king. This is useful for developing memory, logic, the ability to build strategies, the ability to predict the opponent's moves, and also to calculate several moves ahead. The game ends when the king no longer has the opportunity to make a move and is attacked by an enemy figure. This game is great for developing and training the brain.
Download a useful document on the topic:
Checklist: How to Achieve Your Goals in Negotiations with Clients
Frequently Asked Questions About Strategic Thinking
If you don't have a concrete plan for your life or you feel like things are going awry from what you've planned, strategic thinking can help.
Why develop strategic thinking?
Strategic planning and strategic thinking assume that you know exactly what your needs and aspirations are, how to achieve your goal, how to use the resources you have, and what else you need to do it. This skill allows you to see the final result and make long-term plans.
In today's world, many professions are losing their relevance faster than we can master them. In such conditions, new strategic thinking is becoming increasingly important and relevant in people's lives. Today, everything is changing rapidly, and it is quite difficult to develop a strategy that will not turn you 180 degrees in less than a year.
However, it is possible to make a global goal sustainable. For example, you set the task of living in material prosperity in a specific place in the country or the planet and working in a company that provides you with the opportunity for professional and personal development. In essence, this is a ready-made strategy: you do not know exactly what will happen tomorrow, but you can already understand in which areas you should invest your energy, time and other resources to achieve the desired results.
If such a skill is missing, then what can happen?
If strategic thinking is not developed, this can lead to the inability to plan work and life. If there are problems with this, then resources will be spent inefficiently, and the actions taken will not help to achieve the result. The enterprise will miss a whole range of additional opportunities, losing in the competitive struggle, and conflict situations will begin to form within the team. The most serious consequence of an incorrectly chosen strategy is bankruptcy or complete closure of the enterprise.
How to build the right strategy in life and business?
The main stages of building a working strategy:
Write down on paper what you have: an annual profit of two million rubles or an idea for developing a mobile application, as well as specialist developers.
Determine what you are aiming for, for example, to increase your annual profit to four million rubles or a working mobile application that can be downloaded to any phone.
Write down the ways to achieve the goal, highlight the most suitable ones for you. For example, those that are easy to implement.
Complete the intermediate steps as needed.
What are the different models of strategic thinking?
Today there are four basic models:
" Flow " - nowadays it is difficult to meet a person who has not heard the phrase "you need to be in the flow". This suggests that he is busy with his favorite thing, knows the goal he is striving for, that is, everything he undertakes, he receives in the best possible way.
" Professional Guide " - most of us, regardless of age, have at least once found ourselves in a situation where we had to make a choice (it could affect personal and professional relationships). Decisions are easiest to make with developed strategic thinking.
" Conflict resolution " - any dispute involves several options for getting out of it: avoidance, taking all responsibility off yourself, fighting, finding compromises and consensus. Only you decide what suits you in a particular situation.
" Feedback " - you need to not only be able to give compliments correctly, but also to accept them. A special art is the adequate perception of criticism and the formulation of feedback. Find the golden mean, maintain balance and be sincere.
How to develop strategic thinking?
The following range of methods for developing strategic thinking can be used:
Read and study famous cases. Through the experience of famous successful companies and entrepreneurs, you will be able to understand the principles of strategic thinking and apply them in practice.
Practice planning and forecasting. Develop the ability to anticipate future events and create strategies to achieve goals.
Learn to manage risks. You need to develop the skill of assessing possible risks and making decisions that would help minimize negative consequences.
Also, make a plan for your ongoing learning and self-education, read specialized books and articles, attend seminars and webinars, and participate in trainings on the development of strategic thinking.
What courses can I attend?
Consider the following options:
" Risk Management " from the National Research University Higher School of Economics, aimed at developing professional skills in the field of risk management.
" Strategic Management " from the National Research University Higher School of Economics, which introduces students to ways of forming an enterprise strategy in a highly competitive environment.
" Strategic Management and Innovation " from Copenhagen Business School provides an opportunity to consider the concept of goal setting and value formation, as well as an analysis of classical theories within the framework of the new business reality.
" Strategic Planning and Execution " from the University of Virginia focuses on the fundamentals of strategy execution—conducting analysis, formulating strategic paths, and implementing them.
" Introduction to Risk Management " from the University of California, Irvine offers an introduction to risk assessment methods and the relationship between assets, vulnerabilities, threats, and risks.
" Model Thinking " from the University of Michigan is aimed at learning the basic principles of modeling that you can apply both in your personal life and in business processes.
First, set a goal for yourself, create a plan to achieve it with specific steps, and also try