My book for Penguin, “How to Be Strategic” was released in October 2020. Click here to buy the book on Amazon, or keep scrolling to read the introduction below:
“Hard work, talent, contacts, luck. These are important for success in life. Whatever your chosen pursuit. In business, one also needs to add one more ingredient: the ability to be strategic. Smart work, if you will.
Being strategic is a skill, and it can be learned. I’ve been teaching it for the last 20 years, to over 10,000 executives across 60+ organisations. Superior strategic thinking skills boil down to 2 things: a specific mindset (to tackle the uncertainty of the future, where all strategic issues reside) and a wide toolset (to craft credible solutions out of very little actual data).
This book contains 5 sections. The first and last sections focus on the mindset, and the middle three on the toolset:
How to Solve Complex Problems (or “Think”)
How to Generate Great Ideas Quickly (or “Up”)
How to Eliminate Options in No Time (or “Down”)
How to Get the Best Solution Approved (or “Push”), and
How to Keep Improving as A Strategic Thinker (or “Again”).
“Think” introduces the markedly different ways in which different people deal with Complexity. This section explains the expert, analytical, creative, and strategic approaches to complex problem solving, and how each approach relies on a different mix of data, structure and brilliance. “Think” concludes with the Rollercoaster of Strategic Thinking as the ultimate mental model for working smarter, not harder, and Up, Down, Push as the practical way to achieve that.
“Up” focuses on 3 structured techniques for generating great ideas quickly. Like a camel in the desert, each technique takes you quite far on very little water (aka data). Respectively, asking “what would need to be true to achieve the success we seek?”, “how well are we currently meeting customers’ needs & expectations?”, and ”what superpowers would we want from a future version of our current business?”. “Up” takes you quickly to a place of Clarity on any strategic issue.
“Down” brings to bear 3 analytical techniques for eliminating many options in no time. Respectively checking that an idea is better than all the other ideas you can think of in the future, that it can be proven to work as a prototype in the present, and that available past data broadly agrees with the conclusions of present and future testing. “Down” takes you methodically to a place of Certainty over time on any strategic issue.
“Push” combines 3 packaging techniques for getting your preferred solution approved. These techniques include guidelines to respectively verbalize your answer in memorable plain English, put dollar estimates around it, and craft a compelling story. “Push” takes your stakeholders (boss, clients, colleagues, etc) to a point of Conviction, where they agree to your strategic recommendation.
“Again” offers lifetime tips to keep improving as a strategic thinker. Slogans such as “Vote, Don’t Debate”, “Small Teams Go Faster”, “The Third Solution is Often The Best”, etc, are fully fleshed out into practical recipes for improvement, creating a robust roadmap to the next 10 years of your career. “Again” takes you to a place of deep personal Confidence in your ability to welcome any future strategic challenge with a smile and to solve it.
Each page in this book will help you become more strategic by the day. With clear structure, memorable visuals, concrete examples, and simple principles. Up, Down Push. Up, Down, Push. Whatever the strategic issues you’re facing. “How to Be Strategic” is a combination of the best techniques I’ve ever come across, distilled into a simple programme to support your learning and development.
Keep on reading and work smarter. Don’t worry, be strategic!”
