Business Building Corner

Practice strategic thinking

Strategic thinking is defined as “a mental or thinking process applied by an individual in the context of achieving success in an endeavor.” When applied in an organizational management process, strategic thinking involves “the generation and application of unique business insights and opportunities intended to create a competitive advantage.”

Strategic thinking can be done by an individual or collaboratively among key people in a group or organization. Group strategic thinking is valuable because it enables joint action, which may be more powerful than the strength of one. Group strategic thinking succeeds by gaining other people's perspectives on critical and complex issues. This is regarded as a benefit in highly competitive and fast-changing business environments.

Habits of strategic thinkers
Paul Schoemaker, research director at the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, says that strategic thinkers do six main things. Here is a summary of those six points and how they apply to your LPGN business:

  1. Anticipate
      To anticipate well:
    • Look for game-changing information at the periphery of your industry
    • Search beyond the current boundaries of your business
    • Build wide external networks to help you scan the horizon better
    Applied to your LPGN business: Look far and wide for contacts when prospecting.

  2. Think Critically
    Critical thinkers question everything. To master this skill:
    • Reframe problems to get to the bottom of things, in terms of root causes
    • Challenge current beliefs and mindsets, including your own
    • Uncover bias in organizational decisions
    Applied to your LPGN business: Dare to work out of your comfort zone and do not be swayed or deterred by naysayers.

  3. Interpret
      A good strategic leader holds steady, synthesizing information from many sources before developing a viewpoint. To get good at this:
    • Seek patterns in multiple sources of data
    • Encourage others to do the same
    • Question prevailing assumptions and test multiple theories simultaneously
    Applied to your LPGN business: Do your research. Learn everything you can about LPGN products and the opportunity, so you are knowledgeable when you share with others and deal with copycat competitors. Know why you are committing to this business. Teach your downline to do the same.

  4. Decide
      Many leaders fall prey to “analysis paralysis.” You have to develop processes that enable you to make a decision in a timely fashion. To accomplish this:
    • Carefully frame the decision to get to the crux of the matter
    • Balance speed, rigor, quality, and agility
    • Take a stand even with incomplete information and amid diverse views
    Applied to your LPGN business: Don’t overthink things. Consistently sponsor new people and sell products. If people ask you questions you cannot answer, tell them you will find out and get back to them as soon as you can. On the other hand, if you meet someone who is an obvious waste of your time, make a quick decision to move on!
  1. Align
    Consensus is rare. A strategic leader must foster open dialogue, build trust, and engage key stakeholders, especially when views diverge. To pull that off:
    • Understand what drives other people's agendas, including what remains hidden
    • Bring tough issues to the surface, even when it's uncomfortable
    • Assess risk tolerance and follow through to build the necessary support
    Applied to your LPGN business: As your organization grows, don’t be rattled if your downline leaders are not on exactly the same page as you. Stay positive and keep the lines of communication open at all times. You might even be the one who benefits from changing rather than convincing others of your point of view.

  2. Learn
      This is crucial, because success and failure are both valuable sources of organizational learning. Here's what you need to do:
    • Encourage and exemplify honest, rigorous debriefs to extract lessons
    • Shift course quickly if you realize you're off track
    • Celebrate both successes and (well-intentioned) failures that provide insight
    Applied to your LPGN business: You start out in this business as a student, learning from upline. Then you become a teacher to your downline; however, the best leaders retain the student mentality of always learning. Recognize team members for their efforts when they successfully accomplish something new. Be their cheerleader if they become discouraged.