Strategic Thinking

Another thing has come up in terms of things I finding I don't like to do: strategic thinking.

Oh, not the strategic thinking of my life or even of my potential life's work. That I enjoy, even as I need to work on implementation. I enjoying playing with figures, changing numbers, saying "What if" - it's almost like it's a secret joy of those that think a lot.

No, the strategic thinking I'm speaking of is that enforced by others: the thinking that strategic thinking can occur effectively without the ability to take the steps to actually take action on them.

Case in point: I am charged with thinking more strategically in my current position. It's a good idea and a fine plan. However, it seems that any thinking and planning I do is always swept away by the course of daily events, which leaves those plans crinkled up in a ball by my desk. When one has the inability to set policy, strategic thinking and initiation becomes an exercise in futility: when faced with improvement or income, most companies (indeed, most people) will probably take the income.

It's sad. It's silly. It's counterproductive. It leads individuals to learn to not take initiative until essentially they have been "informed" by leaders what the boundaries are.

So I may have learned two things: 1) I can't do it in this environment; 2) If I want to do true strategic thinking, I need to do it in the context of being able to implement it. And that would mean being in charge.