Session #3: Strategic Thinking

Richard Brynteson, Ph.D.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Lake Minnewaska

Richard Brynteson, Ph.D.

Dr. Richard Brynteson is a professor, executive coach, innovation consultant, author, and public

speaker. He teaches in the MBA program at Concordia University, where he has been a

professor of 26 years. He has published six books, on business subjects like innovation and

behavioral economics. He has worked with companies on innovation projects in Africa, Asia and

the United States. He has only had to bribe his way out of jail once.

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� Dr. Richard Brynteson

� Summer 2019

� It’s how things are done

� It’s the process—not the goal

� It’s the way you carry out the goals

� It’s the way you prepare your organization for an uncertain future

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� In military science, it has to do with the planning and conducting a battle or war.

� In biology, it refers to an adaptive response in a species that will increase its viability.

� In organizational theory, it refers to a careful plan to achieve a goal.

� Curious learners

� Careful observers

� Constant listeners

� Willing to do their homework

� Think, “what could be”

� Self-reflective

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� Longer term……………..……. Immediate term

� Conceptual…………….......… Concrete

� Reflective/learning………..…. Action/doing

� Realizing opportunities…..…..Solving problems

� Breaking new ground……..… Routine/on-going

� Effectiveness……………….... Efficiency

� On the balcony……..........not on dance floor

Operational Thinking

�Are gazing at distant horizons

�Give time to futuristic conversations

� Study history

�Encourage hypothetical thinking

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Scenario Planning• What are possible scenarios for 10-20 years

out?• How do you meet each of these scenarios?• What are different strategic thrusts?• Which scenario is most plausible?

� 10-10-10 (Heath and Heath)

�How does this decision look in…

�10 minutes

�10 months

�10 years

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� Deliberate School:� Plan and Analyze

� Emergent School:� Craft the strategy: doing what you are good at.

� Adaptive School:� It’s a jungle out there

� Necessary resources available?

� Fit with core competencies?

� Requirements needed to bring product to market?

� Internal Strengths

� Internal weaknesses

� External opportunities

� External threats

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� Political,

� environmental,

� social,

� cultural,

� technological,

� regulatory,

� economic

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� Set aside the beginning of staff meetings for environmental scanning and futuristic thinking.

� Who are your key stakeholders?

� What do they want?

� What do they say?

� How do you hold the tension of their different needs?

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�What is a trend and what is a fad?

� What segment is not covered?

� Where is an undiscovered segment?

� Is there profitability in that segment?

� External opportunities

� Constraints and resources

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� Question assumptions

� Ask questions

� Ask “in what ways may we…”

� Ask “Why not?”

� Scan the competitors and other industries for breakthroughs.

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� cloud technology

� Automation of knowledge work

� Internet of things

� Mobile internet

� Advanced robotics

� Autonomous vehicles

� Genomics

� Energy storage

� 3D printing

� Advanced materials

� Advanced oil and gas exploration and discovery

� Renewable energy

Blue Ocean Strategy• Reduce• Increase• Create• eliminate

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� What activities do not create value?

� Create a “stop doing” list!

�Personal

�Departmental

�Organizational

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“Systems thinking is a vantage point from which you see a whole, a web of relationships, rather than focusing only on the detail of any particular piece. Events are seen in the larger

context of a pattern that is unfolding over time.”

“Systems thinking is a perspective of seeing and understanding systems as wholes rather than as collections of parts. A whole is a web of interconnections that creates emerging patterns.”

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Seeks to understand the big picture

Observes how elements within systems change over time, generating patterns and trends

Recognizes that a system's structure generates its behavior

Seeks different perspectives to increase understanding

Considers an issue fully and resists the urge to come to a quick conclusion

Considers both short and long-term consequences of actions

Finds where unintended consequences emerge

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