Thinking as an asset

Whether a company is stupidly successful or limps along aimlessly depends on key choices that it makes along the way.

The quality of those choices and how they are selected depends on the quality of the thinking used by the decision-makers responsible.

How an organisation thinks matters

Good organisational strategic thinking is a powerful asset. Quality thinking is the intangible elixir that sets all other operational mechanisms whirring into action to produce outcomes that maximise the commercial value of the organisation. 

Because of this - the quality of this thinking shouldn’t be left to chance or overlooked as a mechanism that can be improved.

In short, nothing is more important. 

So if good thinking is so valuable, how can it be enhanced?

Much like how athletes train their muscles for peak performance or musicians improve their skills through practice, thinking competence can be enhanced with the right training. 

In our experience as facilitators and in all of the literature that we’ve consumed on the subject over the years we’ve tried to capture the key enablers of better thinking into five broad buckets:

1. Methods - strategic thinking is different to the default approach to thinking, which is a pervasive reliance on analytical, logical, reductionist thinking. Good strategic thinking is best developed as a result of fostering an awareness and appreciation of complexity and developing a collaborative ability to use creative and systems thinking as tools. These alternate styles of thinking are not the normal way in which society normally approaches problem solving and therefore require training to master.
2. Time - in the busyness of our lives not many of us set aside dedicated time for proper thinking. Most executives are just way too busy being busy to stop and clear their minds of noise so that they can properly apply their mental faculties to an issue. Calendars need to be cleared and hours need to be committed to the action of good mental processing. Distilling gems out of vast quantities of thought takes patience, skill and blocks of time to do properly. 
3. Place - a desk or a boardroom is not the ideal place in which to set the mind free. Good thinking requires a good environment that is enabling of imaginative thought. Natural settings work well; peace and quiet are ideal. Distraction is the enemy here and keeping the mind focused on clear thinking is incredibly difficult. Being in the right place to achieve this is level of engagement with the mind is critical. 
4. Process - the thinking mind works best with guidance and boundaries. Appropriate frameworks can be helpful; rules, ironically, can also channel the power of thought wonderfully. Knowing which thinking process will help to deliver the outcome you are hoping to achieve comes from the development of a conscious ongoing practice over time.  You can't develop a culture of strategic thinking if you think that hosting a strategy workshop once a year is good enough. Strategic thinking is a tool that needs constant, iterative sharpening.
5. Resources - whole brain thinking feeds on quality information that offers holistic and diverse perspectives of what’s happening outside of the organisation in an attempt to reduce the levels of personal, single-point bias affecting the process and outcome. Body builders know that ‘you are what you eat’; strategic thinkers know that ‘quality thinking comes from quality insights.’  A proper thinking programme needs quality inputs to produce good outputs and this needs to be done consistently according to a ongoing cadence of practice.

Just imagine if all of the money that is currently being spent on outsourcing thinking to things like artificial intelligence were instead redirected to the conscious improvement of our own thinking instead. What positive affects would that have on our organisations and on ourselves?

Next time you look at what your company is spending on IT services, consulting fees and payroll - ask yourself what strategic advantage you are getting from those expenses. If the answer isn't clear, maybe there is reason to invest a bit more in you own strategic thinking capabilities instead.