When to Make a Fast or Slow Decision
Fast thinking? Slow thinking? What’s the difference? And when should you use one vs the other? More than just pithy twists of phrase, these two types of thinking were defined
Strategic Thinking
Posts under Strategic Thinking focus on topics ranging from goal setting to information gathering to positive business outcomes. Some posts compare and contrast the differences between thinking styles (for ex, being strategic vs being creative). Please use the Search bar to scan for other relevant words or tags.
By Andy Eklund
Seven Steps of Effective Business Decision-Making
Effective business decision-making involves a seven-step process that’s been defined and refined pretty much since modern business began with the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s. While the process is
Strategic Thinking and Creative Thinking Together
It’s interesting to me how often the words strategic thinking and creative thinking together are used in business conversations. More concerning, I’m not 100% certain we always know what these words
The Steps of Strategic Thinking
I recently taught a course on strategic thinking, and whle the materials were helpful, it was also strange there weren’t any actual steps of stategic thinking. That is, what exactly do you
How to Create a PESTEL
The PESTEL diagram – aka PESTLE, PEST or STEP – is one the most useful tools to help an organisation understand the external pressures and factors that will affect its
What’s the Difference Between Strategic and Creative Thinking?
I was asked recently by a communications agency in Sydney to answer some questions about the similarities and differences of Strategic and Creative Thinking as they began their annual planning
Stengthen Your Intuition in Ten Steps
Here’s how to strengthen your intuition in ten steps. Similar to creativity, intuition is something everyone understands at a basic level because we’ve all felt it. But, when pressed about how to
Being Strategic vs. Being Creative
At a recent meeting, a senior leader used strategic or creative in ways that I instantly knew he did not know the difference between the two words. Later, when I was alone with our
Problem Solving the Cause or Effect
Understanding and articulating the problem (“a less than ideal state” says Gene Agre in The Concept of a Problem (1982) is the most crucial step in creative thinking. But, it’s
Reframing
How you look at the problem determines how you solve the problem. If you can’t solve your problem, change your perspective. In a word, it’s called reframing. A frame is
Understanding the Problem
So much of creativity – if not business overall – is understanding the problem enough to be able to eliminate it. And if not get rid of it, then either
How To Write SMART Objectives
First outlined by George T. Doran in his 1981 article in Management Review, the system of SMART objectives is one of the most well-known method for writing objectives. Yes, there’s