In the constant battle to keep up with the competition, managers often react immediately to other’s tactics by rolling out similar tactics of their own. Instead of thinking strategically about their next moves, they abandon the plan and step up to the wheel to play another round of tactical roulette. Their aim is to reduce the perceived gap between what the competition is doing and what they are doing. Little do they realize that the gap is the… READ MORE

In an attempt to piece together a fuller picture of strategic thinking, I’ve created the following infographic. It’s designed to highlight key research findings and examples related to strategic thinking, or in some cases, a lack thereof. The data sources outside of my research have been listed after the graphic for those interested in greater detail. (Click to enlarge) Embed this image on your site: <a… READ MORE

An article entitled “As Big Boxes Shrink, They Also Rethink,” was published this week in the Wall Street Journal describing the move by retailers to downsize stores. Perhaps the need to rethink wouldn’t be so significant now if they had taken the time to actually think in the first place. One of the surest signs of a strategy-less organization is the reactive firefighting that goes on. Before they opened their own retail stores for which… READ MORE

“If you are not genuinely pained by the risk involved in your strategic choices, it’s not much of a strategy.” Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix Think you have a tough group of competitors to deal with? Take a look at this list and see if you’d like to trade: Walmart, Amazon, Blockbuster and Apple. Any takers? So how does one not only compete with the likes of Walmart, Amazon and Apple but actually win? By creating a strategy that is truly… READ MORE