Learning to Think Strategically

by Julia Sloan

In Learning to Think Strategically, author Julia Sloan presents a previously unexamined account of the relationship between strategic thinking and the learning process involved ― taking learning from the academic to the everyday. This book is an original primer on how successful strategists learn to think strategically. This authoritative book traces the history of strategy, differentiates strategic thinking from planning, describes the influence of culture, streamlines the roles of rationality and intuition, and identifies five key attributes for learning to think strategically. Learning to Think Strategically asserts that learning is the critical link to strategic thinking. Learning is a "conversion tool" that can transform thinking strategically into a sustainable competitive advantage.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Personal Development, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Julia Sloan is Principal of Sloan International Inc., a New York-based firm specializing in strategic thinking for leaders of businesses, government, and international agencies operating in markets of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. She received her doctorate in organizational leadership from Columbia University, where she teaches strategic thinking.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a class.

I had a hard time getting into this one. It has a lot of good ideas but because so much of it is focused on business/corporations and not other sectors, it made it difficult for me to make connections to my own field of work (education). I did appreciate that it said data and statistics are not the only things, and in order to truly be strategic, we need to incorporate our intuition, culture, and creativity. We can't have or use these things separately but rather we need to blend and use them together. We also need to be open minded and be willing to engage in ongoing dialogue to continue to learn and grow. It's not always about the results, but the process.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time I picked up this book, I learned something. That said, it was a difficult book for me to read and it took me longer than usual. But, I had many "a-ha" moments. I was particularly impressed by the authors focus on participation in the arts as a fundamental basis for strategic thinking. That metaphor combined with my background playing an instrument in bands and orchestras provided the insight I needed to better understand strategic thinking.

[Bernd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains not merely how to think strategically, as so many other books, but how to learn it when coming from a non-strategic position.

[Erica Heiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't an easy read, but it's worth it if you're looking for a book on strategic thinking. Wanted to give 4.5 stars.

[Dean Millson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. Badly in need of an editor to transform it from an academic research paper into a book. Tedious.

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a book that wants you to think, it is bereft of any actual thinking, analysis or reflection, not to mention any skepticism of research findings.

One example is using "Hindutva" to explain India's strategy towards the world and relating it to the Non-Aligned Movement of which India was a founding member during the Cold War. The problem, which a cursory look at Wikipedia would have shown, is that Hindutva is a political ideology of the Hindu nationalist / fundamentalist movement, which was not very influential in the Indian government in the early years after Indian independence. The Indian government was under the Indian National Congress (Nehru, Indira, etc.) who were trying to chart an independent path for India. And the Non-Aligned Movement founders also included Indonesia, Ghana, and the erstwhile Yugoslavia and the United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria), who had their own reasons (not Hindutva!)

The book, for some unknown crazy reason, talks about Mongolia's political strategy while ignoring many other important nations. Thankfully, the author short-circuits their lack of knowledge of world politics and history after a quick rundown of ancient Greece, India, China and Mongolia.

The book seems to have interviewed a lot of business leaders and simply swallowed a lot of their BS. For example, one person seems to have suffered from debilitating pains while doing strategy, another felt euphoric, another felt that they had to take business trips to do strategy, everyone seems to make it out to be some kind of zen stuff. At some point, the book talks about having data take a back seat to intuition without any kind of proof. I mean, if you are going to discount data (actual evidence), where do you obtain the proof from?

It is not that there is nothing useful in the book, but it is unfortunately jumbled with a lot of nonsense. The totally self-serving and self-promoting comments by various business leaders are presented as fact without any comment. The book, like a term paper by a student fighting against a midnight deadline, refers to strategy and brainstorming literature in passing without, once again, providing them in the context of a larger theme.

Find a better book about strategic thinking!

[Todd Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canon in the genre of learning strategy. I wouldn't make this your first read on strategy, more like #5 but it is essential if you want to learn, or teach, strategic thinking.

TL;DR
We teach analytics and strategic planning but we don't teach "strategic thinking."

"The purpose of strategic thinking is to suspend problem-solving and engage in a rigorous process of diverging, testing, and challenging the underlying premise of the strategy, and to generate new options as a means to creating a winning, innovative, and sustainable strategy."

5 attributes to strategic thinking. All 5 of these help you fulfill the purpose of strategic thinking (challenging premises, see more options, innovate, etc)
1. Vivid imagination
2. Keep a broad perspective
3. Being able to juggle competing, incomplete, and inaccurate information all at once.
4. Dealing with things you have no control over
5. Possessing an adamant and relentless desire to win.

She stresses that learning to think strategically mostly happens informally. For example, It happens when you are gardening and draw a parallel from your garden to your business problem. But there are a few things you can do to improve your strategic thinking.

• Engage in some artistic hobby
• Reflect, reflect, reflect, Always be reflecting. Keep a journal
• Talk to a diverse range of people with varying perspectives.
• Use metaphors and analogies
• Use the critical reflective process--she hits this a lot and I am still trying to learn it.
• and more!

[Suat Atan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to "learn to think strategically" however, it includes tons of academic and historical detail and discussions. Of course, they are matter however do not help to "learn strategically". I think it is a kind of hidden bad habit of academician's way of storytelling: Overusing scholar point of view. Nevertheless, the book somehow helped to understand strategic thinking. Utilizing methapors and focusing the questions instead of solutions is some of features like the arguments that helped to strategy development.

[Mohamed Yehia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book on this subject & it fits for the purpose I would say.

[Janet Bessette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suggests ideas about how to Learn to think Strategically. This book is the reason why I joined the book groups. Previously, I focused on reading non-fiction genre: science, history, business, etc. Now, I can see the Value of reading Fiction. Addition Value is gained when you discuss the "experience" with others.

[Nuha]

very good in explaining on how to make professional and effective decisions in complex strategic organisational setups.

[Sudesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Learning to Think Strategically i wanna to read...