Are you thinking strategically about your business?

1. What is strategic thinking or “innovative” thinking?

Strategic thinking is about analyzing opportunities and problems from a broad perspective and understanding the potential impact your actions might have on others.

2. What is the process of strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking is, quite simply, the process of asking questions on a continuous basis.

3. What makes you a strategic thinker?

• Is it your intelligence level? No.

• Is it the number of degrees you have? No.

• Is it how cultured you are? No.

• Is it your job position? No.

• Is it the fact that you are in a management/leadership position? No.

• Is it your ability to understand detailed, technical information? No.

• Is it the ability to have all the answers? No.

You are a strategic thinker if you possess the ability to ASK QUESTIONS without immediately judging the answers.

4. What kind of questions does a strategic thinker ask?

• “Why are we…”

• “How can we…”

• “What would happen if…”

• “What can I do differently?”

5. How does someone begin to think strategically if it does not come naturally?

• Focus on becoming more curious.

• Observe in more detail what is going on around you, and really think about it.

• Do not be embarrassed to ask questions – especially the ones you think you should already know.

• Do not be judgmental or confrontational when asking questions.

• Learn how to probe beyond the first question.

• Accept all answers.

• Be willing to express thoughts and ideas that might be wrong or overruled.

• Be secure enough to recognize a better idea from someone else, and give them credit for it.

• Think ahead – anticipate the most likely results from specific actions.

• Develop a comfort level with uncertainty.

• Become more at ease with taking risks.


Conducting market and/or customer research offers an enormous opportunity for you to think strategically about your business. Asking questions is what it’s all about. Learning about what your customers and prospects are thinking is invaluable; their needs and expectations, their most important purchasing factors and habits, their depth of loyalty, their insights into future trends and sales opportunities (just to name a few areas of interest). When you gather and consider the opinions of the people most crucial to your business, your current and potential customers, when setting your business goals, your success will be greater because you have their voices at your planning table.

If you would like to think strategically about your business, feel free to contact us today. You call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). We can help put market research to work for you in a way that will enhance the way you think about your business priorities today.