p.4 We must be willing to improve on the status quo, tackle the forces that work
against our future success, and better harness the positive forces and levers that are on our side.
p.4-5 If we are to outperform our competitors, if we are to stay ahead of obsolescence, if we want to be
effective in our work tomorrow, we have to adopt a more strategic perspective today.
p.7 if you want to help yourself or teach others how to develop strategic thinking
and become more successful in the journey of life, you have definitely come to the right place. It is never too late
to begin acting strategically.
p.13 Now, you need to orient your mind to think about the future and how your ideas, decision, and actions
today will impact it.
p.22 Applied strategic thinking is simply figuring out what you need to do before you need to do
it. This means you stay alert for incoming information and signals to help you anticipate... You
need to tune into the data... and then muster the courage to take pre-emptive action before it seems obvious or logical to
others.
p.28 You need what we call a strategic dashboard to help you check out the things
that are driving your current success and understand exactly what will drive your future success.
p.32 Be open-minded enough to detect the anomalies that may suggest an opportunity or the need for change
p.33 As you develop the capacity to think strategically, you will make more significant contributions to
your organization. As you become able to identify leading indicators, accurately forecast future trends and possibilities,
and prepare adequately for future eventualities, you will multiply your value.
p.34 The first thing you need to do is pin-point genuine external forces that could disrupt or help
you on your strategic journey.
p.41 The advantage goes to those who can execute strategic actions early and quickly.
p.71 nothing about strategic thinking is all that complex.
p.77 You should also keep in mind that successful strategic thinkers are also gathering
data about the forces in the environment and about their own resources required to implement and sustain a plan.
p.77 In fact, reconnaissance or intelligence gathering takes place on at least two levels. The first, Level
One, is specific intelligence about the "clear" target you have created.
p.78 Keep in mind that both levels will help you spot trends and see relationships between and implications
of events. This information is your harbinger of the future, it will help you make some reasonable assumptions and longer
term forecasts
p.82 You ask yourself, "What is the data telling me?
p.82 Some people are able to understand the past and dominate the future. But in many cases, you
may need leading indicators that correlate with and foretell the future.
p.83 Part of the task will be to discover the significance and implications of the data. You will need to
sort out what intelligence is central to your target
p.83 There may be a variety of ways to diagnose the future and determine a prescription for action or a
prescription to wait out a storm and keep your "action plan" in port.
p.84 Thoughtful intelligence can give you the "lead time" so you can act early, before
things become outmoded.
p.88 Each of you lives and works in a complex and highly unique environment. Your surroundings
provide a web of opportunities, favorable circumstances, and tailwinds, as well as storms to navigate through, and headwinds
to defy. Strategic people learn to leverage these external advantages and neutralize the environmental threats in
order to survive and thrive... you can exercise indirect control over the forces that are pushing and pulling on you, influencing
your decisions, targets, and plans.
p.97 As we have indicated before, you won't be able to see and diagnose every force working for or against
you.
p.110 Creating scenarios is actually a very natural thing to do before you chart a specific course of action.
p.111 Scenarios... are grounded in reality and based on your research, and they will help you construct
plans and make productive decisions... your future environment is full of forces that will work to your benefit or
detriment as you pursue your strategic targets. The ability to look ahead in the face of uncertainty and act on your insights
and experience allows you to be prepared for whatever really happens, whether it is positive or negative.
p.130 Remember, your strategic target isn't going to magically show up on your doorstep as a result of intense
thinking or wishing.
p.131 The key is to leverage failure, to treat failure as a stepping stone and not as something that will
stop your progress.
Back Cover Effective strategic thinkers focus not on what can't be done, but on finding a way to do what
must be done.
