Deep Dive
Deep Dive

Author: Rich Horwath

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group

Published: 2009-08

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1608320332

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Get competitive by learning to think strategically.The inability to set good strategy can sink a company¿and a leader¿s career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.Horwath explains the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills, and gives you practical tools to apply them every day, providing managers with a clear path to mastery of the three disciplines: 1. Acumen¿generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of your business and its environment2. Allocation¿focus your limited resources through strategic trade-offs 3. Action¿implement a system to guarantee effective execution of strategy at all levels of your organization Based on new research with senior executives from 150 companies and the author¿s experience as a thought-leading strategist, Deep Dive is the first book to focus on the most important level of strategy¿you. Armed with this knowledge and dozens of effective tools, you can become a truly strategic leader for your organization.--Rich Horwath is the president of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a former chief strategy officer, and professor of strategy at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. As a thought-leading strategist, he has worked with such giants as Adidas, Amgen, and Pfizer. He is the author of four books and more than fifty articles on strategic thinking and has been profiled in business publications around the world, including Investor¿s Business Daily.

Strategic Thinking and the New Science
Strategic Thinking and the New Science

Author: T. Irene Sanders

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1998-05-05

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0684842688

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The future is happening today, and the most successful organizations will be those that understand the dynamics of the "big picture" in which their decisions are being made. This book describes how to understand and influence that picture. Irene Sanders pioneered the application of chaos theory and complexity to strategic thinking -- the most essential skill in today's fast-paced business environment. Now, in this straightforward, easy-to-read book, she shows how the most up-to-date strategic thinking is done, and how you can begin using it in your enterprise. Sanders' original and practical approach moves far beyond traditional forecasting, futuring and scenario-building. The new science of chaos and complexity has shown scientists and business professionals alike the importance of looking at the world as a whole system, rather than as a collection of deterministic principles. Consequently, the human mind -- through the integration of intuition and intellect -- is now recognized as the only information processor capable of understanding the level of complexity in today's global business environment. By engaging the mind's eye through the use of visual thinking, Sanders shows you how to develop insight about the present and foresight about the future, thereby allowing you to see and influence the future as it is emerging. The new planning paradigm presented in Strategic Thinking and the New Science is nothing less than a transformation of the science of business. For the first time in history, we have the knowledge, tools and techniques to develop visual thinking as the essential insight/foresight skill of the future. In addition to breakthroughs neuroscientists have made about brain-mind interactions, artists and psychologists are revealing the role of imagery in the creative process. And now, the new field of scientific visualization brings all of this information together with computer graphics to demonstrate how visual images can be used to engage our imaginations, enhance learning -- and stimulate our deeper levels of awareness. In this groundbreaking book, Sanders is the first to define the new model of strategic thinking -- a model that is bound to revolutionize organizations of all types as they begin to see and influence their futures -- today.

Strategic Thinking
Strategic Thinking

Author: Simon Wootton

Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780749432188

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A practical workbook and accompanying CD-ROM which take the user through logical stages in strategic thinking. The CD-ROM contains worked examples and blank templates.

Strategic Intuition
Strategic Intuition

Author: William Duggan

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013-06-18

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0231142692

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How "Aha!" really happens. When do you get your best ideas? You probably answer "At night," or "In the shower," or "Stuck in traffic." You get a flash of insight. Things come together in your mind. You connect the dots. You say to yourself, "Aha! I see what to do." Brain science now reveals how these flashes of insight happen. It's a special form of intuition. We call it strategic intuition, because it gives you an idea for action-a strategy. Brain science tells us there are three kinds of intuition: ordinary, expert, and strategic. Ordinary intuition is just a feeling, a gut instinct. Expert intuition is snap judgments, when you instantly recognize something familiar, the way a tennis pro knows where the ball will go from the arc and speed of the opponent's racket. (Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this kind of intuition in Blink.) The third kind, strategic intuition, is not a vague feeling, like ordinary intuition. Strategic intuition is a clear thought. And it's not fast, like expert intuition. It's slow. That flash of insight you had last night might solve a problem that's been on your mind for a month. And it doesn't happen in familiar situations, like a tennis match. Strategic intuition works in new situations. That's when you need it most. Everyone knows you need creative thinking, or entrepreneurial thinking, or innovative thinking, or strategic thinking to succeed in the modern world. All these kinds of thinking happen through flashes of insight--strategic intuition. And now that we know how it works, you can learn to do it better. That's what this book is about. Over the past ten years, William Duggan has conducted pioneering research on strategic intuition and for the past three years has taught a popular course at Columbia Business School on the subject. He now gives us this eye-opening book that shows how strategic intuition lies at the heart of great achievements throughout human history: the scientific and computer revolutions, women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, modern art, microfinance in poor countries, and more. Considering the achievements of people and organizations, from Bill Gates to Google, Copernicus to Martin Luther King, Picasso to Patton, you'll never think the same way about strategy again. Three kinds of strategic ideas apply to human achievement: * Strategic analysis, where you study the situation you face * Strategic intuition, where you get a creative idea for what to do * Strategic planning, where you work out the details of how to do it. There is no shortage of books about strategic analysis and strategic planning. This new book by William Duggan is the first full treatment of strategic intuition. It's the missing piece of the strategy puzzle that makes essential reading for anyone interested in achieving more in any field of human endeavor.

The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management
The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management

Author: Stephen Haines

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2000-06-13

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1420025694

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Easy-to-follow and understand, The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management presents the first practical application of "systems thinking", a concept first introduced by Peter Senge in the Fifth Discipline as a new, better and elegantly simple A-B-C approach to strategic management, planning, and change. It provides a unique S

Lovability
Lovability

Author: Brian de Haaff

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group

Published: 2017-04-25

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1626344043

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Love is the surprising emotion that company builders cannot afford to ignore. Genuine, heartfelt devotion and loyalty from customers — yes, love — is what propels a select few companies ahead. Think about the products and companies that you really care about and how they make you feel. You do not merely likethose products, you adore them. Consider your own emotions and a key insight is revealed: Love is central to business. Nobody talks about it, but it is obvious in hindsight. Lovability: How to Build a Business That People Love and Be Happy Doing It shares what Silicon Valley-based author and Aha! CEO Brian de Haaff knows from a career of founding successful technology companies and creating award-winning products. He reveals the secret to the phenomenal growth of Aha! and the engine that powers lasting customer devotion — a set of principles that he pioneered and named The Responsive Method. Lovability provides valuable lessons and actionable steps for product and company builders everywhere, including: • Why you should rethink everything you know about building a business • What a product really is • The magic of finding what your customers truly desire • How to turn business strategy and product roadmaps into customer love • Why you should chase company value, not valuation • Surveys to measure your company’s lovability Brian de Haaff has spent the last 20 years focused on business strategy, product management, and bringing disruptive technologies to market. And in preparation for writing this book, he interviewed well-known startup founders, product managers, executives, and CEOs at hundreds of name brand and agile organizations. Their experiences, along with headline-grabbing case studies (both inspiring successes and cautionary tales), will help readers discover how to build something that matters. Much has been written about how entrepreneurs build innovative products and successful businesses, but the author's message is original and refreshing. He convincingly explains that there is a better path forward — a people-first way grounded in love. In a business world that has increasingly emphasized hype over substance and get-big-at-any-cost thinking over profitable and sustainable growth, it's time for a new recipe for company success. ​Insightful, thought-provoking, and sometimes controversial, Lovability is the book that you turn to when you know there has to be a better way.

Leading with Strategic Thinking
Leading with Strategic Thinking

Author: Aaron K. Olson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-04-13

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1118968158

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Be a more effective leader with strategic thinking Leading with Strategic Thinking reveals what effective leaders do differently. Eschewing the one-size-fits-all leadership model, this helpful guide outlines four general leadership types and demonstrates how each type achieves success – whether through personal vision, structured process, collaboration, or by empowering others. The authors identify the actions and skills that distinguish strategic leadership, drawn from interviews and focus groups with over three hundred leaders from around the world. Examples and case studies illustrate these concepts in action, and the provided reference materials steer readers toward more advanced information on this important topic. The disruptive forces of technology and globalization raise new challenges for leaders. This book is a manual that will help executives and aspiring leaders harness these forces and address the two central questions of strategic leadership: How do the best leaders develop their strategy? How do effective leaders drive strategic change? Becoming a strategic leader isn’t about mimicking an icon. The most effective leaders seize opportunity in a way that consciously integrates environmental requirements, stakeholder expectations, and personal ability. Leading with Strategic Thinking shows what these leaders do, and gives anyone the tools to be a more strategic leader.

Strategic Thinking
Strategic Thinking

Author: Frederick Betz

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Published: 2016-01-08

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 178560466X

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The purpose of proper strategic thinking is to eliminate top-down only communication that leads to the wishful thinking way of organizational strategy. Strategic thinking is necessary at every level of an organization. This book uses actual histories of business successes and failures to illustrate theoretical concepts in strategic thinking.

Strategy and Organization
Strategy and Organization

Author: Loizos Heracleous

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-08-07

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1107320232

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Examining some of the new and emerging issues in strategic management, Loizos Heracleous offers a fresh approach to the established ideas of strategy. Beginning with the historical development of the strategy field, including the influence of industrial organisation and the resource-based view, he develops a new perspective labelled an 'organisational action' view of strategy. This approach is theoretically underlain by organisation theory and takes seriously such issues as the role of agency, the need for a longitudinal focus on process, the complexities of strategy implementation, and organisational facets such as strategic choice, organisational culture, organisational discourses and learning. Combining theoretical subtlety with an applied orientation, Heracleous examines topical areas such as corporate governance, inter-organisational networks, and organising for the future. With original research and extensive surveys of the strategy literature, combined with a strong practical orientation, this book is ideal for MBA students, strategy researchers and the more thoughtful practitioner.