HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically

Bring strategy into your daily work.

It's your responsibility as a manager to ensure that your work — and the work of your team — aligns with the overarching objectives of your organization. But when you're faced with competing projects and limited time, it's difficult to keep strategy front of mind. How do you keep your eye on the long term amid a sea of short-term demands?

The HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically provides practical advice and tips to help you see the big-picture perspective in every aspect of your daily work, from making decisions to setting team priorities to attacking your own to-do list.

You'll learn how to:

• Understand your organization's strategy
• Align your team around key objectives
• Focus on the priorities that matter most
• Spot trends in your company and in your industry
• Consider future outcomes when making decisions
• Manage trade-offs
• Embrace a leadership mindset

• Introduction: Why Everyone Neds to Think Strategically
  In complex situations, you need a broader view
• Section One: get Started: Be Strategic in Your Daily Work
1. Strategic Leader: The Essential Skills
   Six abilities to hone and apply
   Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland
2. To Be Strategic, Balance Agility and Consistency
   Execute on core principles, but be open to change
   John Coleman
3. Prove You're Ready for the Next Level by Showing Off Your Strategic Thinking Skills
   Don't just develop them — Demonstrate them
   Nina A. Bowman
• Section Two: Understand Your Organization's Strategy
4. Understanding Your Organization's Strategy
   Gather perspective from stakeholders and think through your objectives
5. Strategy Isn't What You Say, It's What You Do
   How strategy connects to your daily work
   Roger L. Martin
6. Building a Strategic Network
   Relationships to help you prepare for the future
   Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback
• Section Three: Develop a Big-Picture Perspective
7. Spotting Trends and Patterns That Affect Your Business
   Find connections between internal and external signals
   Nina A. Bowman
8. Look at Your Company from the Outside In
   Learn what you could be doing differently
   Graham Kenny
9. Thinking Long-Term in a Short-Term Economy
   When external pressures demand immediate wins
   Ron Ashkenas
10. The Future Is Scary. Creative Thinking Can Help
    Challenge your current assumptions — and anticipate what's to come
    Alan Iny and Luc de Brabandere
11. Zoom in, Zoom Out
    When to focus on the big picture — and when not to
    Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• Section Four: Align Decisions with Strategic Objectives
12. Reflect on Your Actions and Choices
    Every decision requires strategic thought
    Liane Davey
13. Seven Steps for Making Faster, Better Decisions
    Tools to break biases and improve outcomes
    Erik Larson
14. How to Make Better Decisions with Less Data
    Know what information you need to solve problems
    Tanya Menon and Leigh Thompson
• Section Five: Set Priorities and Manage Trade-Offs
15. A Better Way to Set Strategic Priorities
    Separate the critical, the important, and the desirable
    Derek Lidow
16. How to Prioritize When Your Manager Is Hands-Off
    Align your contributions with your passions
    Amy Jen Su
17. Identify and Kill Outdated Objectives
    Let go of projects of the past
    Jessica Avery
18. What to Do When Strategic Goals Conflict
    How to choose when the answer isn't clear
    Ron Ashkenas and Brook Manville
19. Assess and Manage Trade-Offs
    List pros and cons, and think about outcomes
• Section Six: Align Your Team Around Strategic Goals
20. To Be a Strategic Leader, Ask the Right Questions
    Drive dialogue with your team
    Lisa Lai
21. An Exercise to Get Your Team Thinking Differently About the Future
    Use scenario-planning tools to broaden their view
    Leonard M. Fuld
22. Communicating a Corporate Vision to Your Team
    What to do when the strategy changes
    Kelly Decker and Ben Decker
• Section Seven: Move from Thinking Strategically to Executing the Strategy
23. Execution Is a People Problem, Not a Strategy Problem
    Check your team's strategic alignment
    Peter Bregman
24. How to Excel at Both Strategy and Execution
    Translate the strategic into the everyday
    Paul Leinwand and Joachim Rotering
25. How the Most Successful Teams Bridge the Strategy-to-Execution Gap
    Understand what makes your company unique, and commit to that identity
    Nathan Wiita and Orla Leonard
26. Get Your Team to Do What It Says It's Going to Do
    Help your employees meet their targets with if-then planning
    Heidi Grant
• Section Eight: Navigate Strategic Thinking Challenges
27. When You Think the Strategy Is Wrong
    Do your research and proceed carefully
    Amy Gallo
28. When Your Boss Gives You Conflicting Messages
    Ask your manager for advice, then get creative
    Len Schlesinger and Charlie Kiefer
29. When the Strategy Is Unclear, in Flux, or Always Changing
    Be pragmatic, stay steady, and tap into the wisdom of others
    Lisa Lai
• Appendix A: Questions to Inspire Strategic Thinking
  Dozen of prompts to get you started
• Appendix B: Organizational Strategy: A Primer
  What leaders are thinking about when they're thinking about strategy