Strategic Thinking

Why Engage in Strategic Thinking

The fundamental reason to engage in strategic thinking is that the world is undergoing dramatic change. This change is often referred to as whitewater change or hypercompetition. Organizations need some type of intellectual process to identify and cope with this change if they are to remain relevant, some way to consider how to renew or reinvent themselves.

Managers who operate in an environment where there is little change probably do not need strategic thinking. However, today few industries do not face massive change—technological, economic, social, political, regulatory, and competitive—that can devastate a successful organization. Health care is certainly one of the most dynamic industries and thus requires strategic thinking. Moreover, to assume that what a health care organization is currently doing will always be valuable and relevant is the type of arrogance that has destroyed many organizations in other industries. As the world changes, the “rules for success” change as well. New technologies, social values, demographics, political environments, regulations, economic conditions, and competitive changes call for new approaches, new products and services, and new ways to deliver them.

Strategic thinking is an important foundation of strategic management. However, strategic thinking is not confined to just the CEO or the top level of the organization. For strategic management to be successful, everyone should be encouraged to think strategically. Strategic thinking is supported by the continuous process of strategic management and documented through the periodic process of strategic planning.