front This focusing on outcomes compels us to practice what I call "backwards thinking." In backwards
thinking, we focus on what we perceive as the ideal future vision and outcomes for our organization and then think backward
to our present state. We then look for ways to bridge the gap between the two.
Or, as Stephen Covey says, "We must begin with the end in mind."
p.29 If you think about it, the whole reason behind reinventing the way you do day-to-day business is that
you want to exercise better control over achieving your organization's future. You want to be proactive is seeing that your
organization realizes your desired vision and outcomes. To do this, you'll need to practice what I call "backward" (or systems)
thinking.
This calls for starting with your Ideal Future Vision, then thinking backwards to where your organization
is right now. From there, you have to determine how to bridge the gap between today's current state of operations and that
vision you want to achieve.
p.30 By maintaining a permanent mindset of strategic thinking, you get into the habit of thinking with clarity,
meaning, focus, and direction. Skipping this process is the surest way I know to create one more strategic plan that falls
by the wayside.
p.30 If you do not look at things on a large scale, it will be difficult for you to master strategy.
If you learn and attain this strategy, you will never lose, even to twenty or thirty enemies. More than anything... you must
set your heart on strategy and earnestly stick to the Way. -Miyamoto Musashi (1643 A.D.)
p.32 successful strategic management must include mechanisms that address ongoing change.
p.32 In one way or another, we are forced to deal with complexities, with "wholes" or "systems"
in all fields of knowledge. This implies a basic re-orientation in scientific thinking. -Ludwig Von Bertalanffy
p.47 A fresh new approach is called for, one that can set in place a framework sturdy enough to withstand
the ongoing complexities of continuous change and organizational dynamics.
From extensive experience, I have come deeply to believe that long-term success can only
come from a systems thinking approach... The Systems Thinking Approach is an absolute necessity to make sense of
and succeed in today's complex world.
p.47-48 Recap of Key Content Points
- Focus on systems thinking in your strategic management.
- Start with your Ideal Future Vision and then work backward to determine the core strategies you'll need to
achieve this.
- Goal #2 - ensuring successful implementation - is the key to strategic planning, not the document.
- ... you must incorporate a three-part strategic management system to ensure continuous improvement...
- A systems framework sets up an A, B, C, D, E sequential five-phase approach to strategic management: (A)
concentrating on outcomes first, (B) establishing a quantifiable feedback system for measuring progress, (C) determining where
you are now, and (D) how you'll reach your ultimate vision within (E) a rapidly changing environment.
p.50 you must begin developing ways in which to measure your organization's outcome measures of
success toward its vision, mission, and core values.
p.62 If your methods for measuring organizational success aren't clearly defined up front, its progress
will be virtually impossible to determine. Unless you establish Key Success Measures or goals (beyond financials),
your plan isn't worth the paper it was printed on.
p.65 Phase B (Key Success Measures) enables your organization to develop a focused set of specific and quantifiable
outcome measures of success, including customer and employee satisfaction. these become the way to focus on measuring and
dramatically increasing your success year after year.
p.108 the Ideal Future Vision step is where you focus on the outcomes and direction that will become
the context for determining what you have to do
