The real art of strategic planning

All strategy starts with strategic thinking. This is not the same as the kind of thinking that you do every day. Strategic thinking is different because you have to step back from your organization and see the possibilities (rather than the problems), the important characteristics (rather than the urgent tasks) and the opportunities (rather than the obstacles). Your thinking is determined by the kinds of questions that you ask, and to be able to think strategically, you need to challenge yourself with different types of puzzles. In this article I have outlined four big strategic and four key tactical questions that will put you in the right frame of mind of make sure that you can master the real art of strategic planning.