Have you been told you need to be more “strategic” but don’t know what to do?
In the corporate world, people are often evaluated on whether or not they are “strategic” or have a strategic mindset. And I read an article recently that scientists should begin to use strategic thinking in their training. It sounds like a good idea, but how?
If you want to learn to think and act more strategically, here’s the best way to get started:
Be curious
…about topics that are not directly related to your work. Ask people questions about what they do. If that sounds intimidating, research a topic and then ask people questions about it.
Connect new dots
What people call “strategic” is often just seeing a connection for the first time. What could your work make possible for someone else’s work or another field of study?
Think about the future
Ask yourself, if we are here today, where could we be in the future? Be an unconstrained optimist for a minute. Then think about what would need to be true to create that optimistic reality.
These three approaches will exponentially accelerate your learning process.
