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Strategic Thinking and Decision Making
Varied Selections from my Column at Inc.com
By Paul J.H. Schoemaker
This book covers a wide range of managerial problems that leaders may encounter in business, often in unexpected or incomplete ways. Varied essays depict complex situations that organizational leaders encountered and had to resolve. The leadership challenge is to develop meta-skills for thinking strategically about them and then make sound business decisions that can withstand uncertainty and surprise.
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About This Book
This book contains fifteen chapters organized thematically around key themes but in a non-cumulative way. This means readers can randomly sample topics and sections of the book or dive into a single essay covering one specific issue in more detail (such as biases, mistakes, strategy, foresight, talent or teams). Either way, readers can assess if they agree with the approaches offered or perhaps favor different perspectives. If the latter, they may wish to discuss the issues with some colleagues informally during a break or examine the case more formally in team building exercises to raise the organization’s strategic IQ.
Sampling the collected sub-sections and chapters (whether in small bites or as one read-through) will help managers refine their own approaches to strategic thinking and leadership. Also, it will help align them better with colleagues or partners who come from different backgrounds, functional responsibilities or cultural orientations. It will soon become apparent to readers that the overall approach to business problems presented is very much behavioral. This means that each essay or case starts by identifying important management problems in some realistic business settings. Before offering any conceptual perspectives or prescriptive advice, each essay seeks to better understand the behavioral context of the problems addressed.
This varied case approach seeks to provide practical insights, tips or even full solutions, but not until the essence of the problem and its broader organizational and cultural settings are sufficiently understood. Offering prescriptions without first getting well-grounded behavioual descriptions tend to result in failed interventions. Normative advice that is drawn from text books rather than real slices of life often amount to boxing with shadows on the wall rather than solving the real issues. As such, this book aims to illustrate for managers and leaders how to frame thorny management issues by (i) clearly defining a distinct business problem, (ii) viewing it through multiple lenses and (iii) creatively exploring pragmatic solutions for the short and long runs.
Reviews
Most boards and leadership teams deal with a relentless flow of surprises that increases the uncertainty they must manage. This book offers sturdy handrails for navigating and profiting from this mounting turmoil and unpredictability. Paul Schoemaker draws from his deep experience to make a compelling case for being open to different perspectives from diverse minds. By absorbing and applying his insights, leaders will be better prepared to avoid the pitfalls of focusing too narrowly or overlooking the broader strategic challenges.—George S. Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Emeritus Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
This meticulously curated collection of articles by Paul Schoemaker is a much-needed portal into a wealth of insights linking strategic thinking and planning with strategic action. This book is an ideal “practitioner guide” for leaders seeking to enhance their organization’s resilience and adaptive capabilities. A pressing leadership challenge today is to see and shape the future strategically while also “triaging” immediate challenges—be they competitive, geo-political, technological, regulatory, etc.—Govi Rao, CEO, Phase Change Solutions and Founding Partner of the Carbon Group Global, USA.
This comprehensive book is neither one idea elaborated with the author’s personal experiences nor fashionably clothed conventional wisdom. It is unconventional, counterintuitive wisdom, with many compelling business examples.—J. Edward Russo, SC Johnson Family Professor of Management Emeritus at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, USA.
This book showcases Schoemaker’s brilliant insights into proactive leadership in turbulent times. His unconventional wisdom provides a masterful roadmap for entrepreneurial leaders to parry threats and transform challenges into opportunities. Schoemaker’s genius shines in his approach to learning from failure and seeing future changes sooner. This pragmatic book offers leaders a crucial edge in anticipating the future and staying ahead.—Toomas H. Truumees, Founder and CEO of Burnout Anticipation Technologies, USA.
Paul Schoemaker has been a trailblazer guiding organizational learning, innovation, and leadership in uncertain environments for four decades. In this book, he masterfully curates his writings for business leaders with unparalleled insight and clarity. A must-read for anyone serious about the art and science of leading organizations in today’s turbulent world, teeming with exciting opportunities and existential threats.—Shardul Phadnis, Associate Professor, Asia School of Business, Malaysia.
Author Information
Former Research Director of Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School, where he taught strategy and decision making as an adjunct professor. Earlier he was an associate professor at Univ. of Chicago’s graduate school of business.
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