Actually Being Strategic

Proceed Until Apprehended » Blog Archive » Strategic Thinking vs. Being Strategic.

I have a daily Google alert on "being strategic," and it's just fascinating to me what comes up – what people mean by that phrase is so all over the map.  Some people clearly think it means "being manipulative and deceitful" or "acting in your own best interest vs. for the greater good."  Some people use it to mean "being willing to give up short-term gain for long-term benefit," while some clearly think it means simply "crushing the competition."

For anyone reading this who hasn't heard me say this already: I define being strategic as consistently making those core directional choices that will best move you toward your hoped-for future.

So I loved the post linked at the top.  The author, Nevin Danielson, makes a great distinction between people who think in a strategic way and those who translate that into actually being strategic. I really agree with him; there are a lot of people who see a possible future, and can even articulate the efforts that will take you there….but then who don't have the courage or motivation to move forward. Or perhaps they don't see the difference – they think it's enough to just think clearly, and don't understand that nothing changes unless you make the effort to use your clarity to affect the world.