When we were at a key point in launching the Washington DC office, we had an employee who said very improper things to me about our company at a client site. My initial reaction was to fire the guy on the spot. However, the objected was that we had some key accounts we had to fulfill in order to keep the revenue coming in. I needed that employee to do that work at that point in time.
The objective kept me from reacting and doing things that would hurt me and forced me to create a tactical plan for replacing that employee. Once we had the plans and people to replace that person we were able to move the team on with a higher level of morale and better workmanship.
The lack of this principle is often seen in negotiations. People loose sight of the objective and get carried away with the emotions of the moment. Haven't you ever negotiated with your child. Emotions run the show.
The first step in strategic thinking is to understand what the objective or goal is for your enterprise.
As a former Infantry Army officer the first thing we have in strategic and tactical planning of an operation was to understand what the objective was of both the commander and the commander two levels up.
As a former Infantry Army officer the first thing we have in strategic and tactical planning of an operation was to understand what the objective was of both the commander and the commander two levels up.
From there we can come up with our own strategies and action plans to accomplish the commanders intent.
The objective was never to just go out, find and kill the enemy. In fact most military strategy will teach you is to try to accomplish the objective in as peaceful a way as possible. When I oversaw my unit we were trained to operate behind enemy lines. That was NOT the place we wanted to engage in a head to head battle. Instead, we would work with stealth to seize the objective without the enemy even knowing we were there or knowing too late.
If you can accomplish the objective, in a military setting, without firing a single shot you conserve your resources and personnel. In a business setting, the toughest time to sell to an account is when you are head to head with a competitor. The best is when you can come in without your competitors knowing you were there.
This reserves both morale and resources for the next objective.
So the first step in strategic thinking is to CLEARLY and SIMPLY define your objective.
