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HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically
Bring strategy into your daily work.
It's your responsibility as a manager to ensure that your work--and the work of your team--aligns with the overarching objectives of your organization. But when you're faced with competing projects and limited time, it's difficult to keep strategy front of mind. How do you keep your eye on the long term amid a sea of short-term demands?
The HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically provides practical advice and tips to help you see the big-picture perspective in every aspect of your daily work, from making decisions to setting team priorities to attacking your own to-do list.
You'll learn how
Understand your organization's strategyAlign your team around key objectivesFocus on the priorities that matter mostSpot trends in your company and in your industryConsider future outcomes when making decisionsManage trade-offsEmbrace a leadership mindset
It's your responsibility as a manager to ensure that your work--and the work of your team--aligns with the overarching objectives of your organization. But when you're faced with competing projects and limited time, it's difficult to keep strategy front of mind. How do you keep your eye on the long term amid a sea of short-term demands?
The HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically provides practical advice and tips to help you see the big-picture perspective in every aspect of your daily work, from making decisions to setting team priorities to attacking your own to-do list.
You'll learn how
Understand your organization's strategyAlign your team around key objectivesFocus on the priorities that matter mostSpot trends in your company and in your industryConsider future outcomes when making decisionsManage trade-offsEmbrace a leadership mindset
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2010
460 people are currently reading
1072 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
November 4, 2019
Recently, my boss commented that I should drastically develop my strategic thinking if I intend to successfully move up through the career ladder. That comment really surprised me. Let's face it; lawyers being lawyers, we rarely take the liberty to free up our time to strategise our work and prioritise important works. We glorify our actions even if it means we mostly get our head down and try to complete all works given without understanding the intensity or magnitude of any particular works.
Well guess what? It's completely new ball game for in-house legal counsel as we're required to be an active business partner and advocate for both the legality and commercial perspectives of any given tasks.
Anyways, this is one if the first HBR guide book that I've read and I've throughly enjoyed reading it. Surprisingly, the contents' is plainly-writing and easily accessible to anyone. Don't get me wrong, some of the sub-topics are ridiculously obvious and are derived without much thinking. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed it. Amongst the best sub-topics includes "Assess and Manage Trade-Offs" and "When the Strategy is Unclear, in Flux or Always Changing".
This should be the go-to book for anyone to everyone regardless of the where they currently stand in their career. An enjoyable read and one that I'll read again from time to time.
Well guess what? It's completely new ball game for in-house legal counsel as we're required to be an active business partner and advocate for both the legality and commercial perspectives of any given tasks.
Anyways, this is one if the first HBR guide book that I've read and I've throughly enjoyed reading it. Surprisingly, the contents' is plainly-writing and easily accessible to anyone. Don't get me wrong, some of the sub-topics are ridiculously obvious and are derived without much thinking. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed it. Amongst the best sub-topics includes "Assess and Manage Trade-Offs" and "When the Strategy is Unclear, in Flux or Always Changing".
This should be the go-to book for anyone to everyone regardless of the where they currently stand in their career. An enjoyable read and one that I'll read again from time to time.
April 28, 2019
Good for quick reference
If you are looking for a book that will teach you strategic thinking, this isn't a book for you.
However if you are looking for quick reference about strategy development and execution, this guide is valuable. It includes several chapters from great authors who share good approaches, frameworks, tools and trips.
I personally like the section on "Move from Thinking Strategically to Executing the Strategy".
If you are looking for a book that will teach you strategic thinking, this isn't a book for you.
However if you are looking for quick reference about strategy development and execution, this guide is valuable. It includes several chapters from great authors who share good approaches, frameworks, tools and trips.
I personally like the section on "Move from Thinking Strategically to Executing the Strategy".
May 27, 2022
A fair book to read for one to catch up with general thought processes in decision making. Therefore I'd highly recommend this book to people who want to know which elements are involved in strategic thinking. However, not much beyond a high-level delivery and superficial examples are given by this book.
October 24, 2016
Neat and concise little pocket guide, complete with worksheets and quizzes to test comprehension. It's very much geared to strategic thinking in a larger, perhaps more bureaucratic, organization setting where there are multiple departments, other managers, and you have a "boss." (By the way, I haaate the term "boss" in the way they've used it, but that's a conversation for another time).
March 18, 2021
Achei interessante para avaliar como esse tipo de livro traz reflexões e/ou inspira novas atitudes, mas de um modo geral fiquei com a impressão de que o livro aborda tudo de forma meio rasa e com textos que se “auto comprovam”.
Para citar um exemplo, penso que pensamento estratégico implica em reflexões críticas e um certo grau de questionamento de “verdades universais “ ou “lugares comuns”, mas o próprio livro não pratica isso nenhuma vez, na minha opinião.
Para citar um exemplo, penso que pensamento estratégico implica em reflexões críticas e um certo grau de questionamento de “verdades universais “ ou “lugares comuns”, mas o próprio livro não pratica isso nenhuma vez, na minha opinião.
October 11, 2021
Corporate manipulation master class.
Useful but disgusting to be frank.
Useful but disgusting to be frank.
July 14, 2022
I’ve just finished the HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically - it’s not a manual or framework, but a collection of published articles with thought points or principles.
It’s a good read but most of all I liked this quote about todays ability to access information: “The brightest and most inspiring minds are at your fingertips—read books and articles, listen to podcasts and interviews, and watch instructive videos, webinars, and more to expand your thinking and learn new approaches relevant to your specific situation.”
It’s a good read but most of all I liked this quote about todays ability to access information: “The brightest and most inspiring minds are at your fingertips—read books and articles, listen to podcasts and interviews, and watch instructive videos, webinars, and more to expand your thinking and learn new approaches relevant to your specific situation.”
February 5, 2017
A nice, high-level overview of strategic thinking techniques, and the worksheets are helpful, but this really only scratches the surface. There is a list of recommended reading at the end for those wanting more than a broad overview. Quick and easy read!
December 22, 2018
Nice short read. This book shows the fundamental elements of strategic thinking. Some useful tools also available.
March 26, 2023
Core message: to think strategically, a person needs to expand its horizons and apply various thinking perspectives. It can be achieved if one can develop a few qualities: curiosity, focus on future, outward outlook (look at the company in the context of the environment), openness to new ideas, breadth (continually broadening the knowledge to see patterns).
This book is a collection of articles on strategic thinking from an employee perspective. For some, it might be challenging to digest book in this form. For others, a relatively small articles size will allow to chunk data and focus on more important topics rather than reading through all subjects.
This book is for someone who wants to learn strategic thinking, to see strategy behind daily work activities and benefit from this knowledge. By aligning actions to company’s strategy, an employee can demonstrate readiness for promotion.
High performing teams don’t rush for execution. They spend more time thinking about vision, strategy, debating approaches, etc. It reflects my experience. For example, Commercial Due Diligence projects require you to deliver report quickly, typically within 3-4 weeks. Sometimes, it’s 2 weeks. My natural tendency in the beginning was to start the research, put together the deck, schedule calls etc. It’s a mistake. The execution mode should be turned on later. What I found more efficient is to first understand key stakeholders and their needs (e.g., PE wants to investigate if it’s a good asset to invest in). Then, it’s best to focus on high-level research to understand the company and industry. It’s important to limit the research. 1-2 days is typically enough. Finally, we need to define the approach and brainstorm key hypotheses. Only after we finish that, we can focus on execution.
Prioritization is key for strategy execution. It’s also important to constantly challenge yourself to understand if what you do is aligned with your strategy.
Only 8% of company leaders are good both at strategy and execution. Therefore, combining strategy development and execution skills can differentiate you.
This book is a collection of articles on strategic thinking from an employee perspective. For some, it might be challenging to digest book in this form. For others, a relatively small articles size will allow to chunk data and focus on more important topics rather than reading through all subjects.
This book is for someone who wants to learn strategic thinking, to see strategy behind daily work activities and benefit from this knowledge. By aligning actions to company’s strategy, an employee can demonstrate readiness for promotion.
High performing teams don’t rush for execution. They spend more time thinking about vision, strategy, debating approaches, etc. It reflects my experience. For example, Commercial Due Diligence projects require you to deliver report quickly, typically within 3-4 weeks. Sometimes, it’s 2 weeks. My natural tendency in the beginning was to start the research, put together the deck, schedule calls etc. It’s a mistake. The execution mode should be turned on later. What I found more efficient is to first understand key stakeholders and their needs (e.g., PE wants to investigate if it’s a good asset to invest in). Then, it’s best to focus on high-level research to understand the company and industry. It’s important to limit the research. 1-2 days is typically enough. Finally, we need to define the approach and brainstorm key hypotheses. Only after we finish that, we can focus on execution.
Prioritization is key for strategy execution. It’s also important to constantly challenge yourself to understand if what you do is aligned with your strategy.
Only 8% of company leaders are good both at strategy and execution. Therefore, combining strategy development and execution skills can differentiate you.
March 22, 2024
A great book to read!
The Harvard Business Review Guide to Thinking Strategically is a resource designed to help professionals develop their strategic thinking skills. In today's business environment, it's important to be able to see the big picture and make decisions that align with your organization's long-term goals. This book provides practical advice and tools to help you do just that.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the book:
Strategic thinking is about more than just planning. It's about developing a mindset that allows you to see the bigger picture and make decisions that will benefit your organization in the long run.
It's important to understand your organization's strategy. Once you understand the overall goals, you can start to align your own work and the work of your team with those goals.
Focus on the priorities that matter most. There are always going to be competing demands for your time and attention. The key is to be able to identify the priorities that are most important to your organization's success and focus your efforts there.
Be able to spot trends. The business world is constantly changing. It's important to be able to identify trends in your industry and market so that you can make informed decisions about the future.
Consider future outcomes when making decisions. Don't just focus on the short-term. Think about the long-term implications of your decisions before you make them.
Be able to manage trade-offs. There will always be trade-offs to be made. The key is to be able to weigh the pros and cons of each option and make the decision that is best for your organization.
Embrace a leadership mindset. Strategic thinking is a key component of leadership. By developing your strategic thinking skills, you can position yourself for success in your career.
The Harvard Business Review Guide to Thinking Strategically is a resource designed to help professionals develop their strategic thinking skills. In today's business environment, it's important to be able to see the big picture and make decisions that align with your organization's long-term goals. This book provides practical advice and tools to help you do just that.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the book:
Strategic thinking is about more than just planning. It's about developing a mindset that allows you to see the bigger picture and make decisions that will benefit your organization in the long run.
It's important to understand your organization's strategy. Once you understand the overall goals, you can start to align your own work and the work of your team with those goals.
Focus on the priorities that matter most. There are always going to be competing demands for your time and attention. The key is to be able to identify the priorities that are most important to your organization's success and focus your efforts there.
Be able to spot trends. The business world is constantly changing. It's important to be able to identify trends in your industry and market so that you can make informed decisions about the future.
Consider future outcomes when making decisions. Don't just focus on the short-term. Think about the long-term implications of your decisions before you make them.
Be able to manage trade-offs. There will always be trade-offs to be made. The key is to be able to weigh the pros and cons of each option and make the decision that is best for your organization.
Embrace a leadership mindset. Strategic thinking is a key component of leadership. By developing your strategic thinking skills, you can position yourself for success in your career.
August 26, 2023
In its most basic sense, strategic thinking is about analyzing opportunities and problems from a broad perspective and understanding the potential impact your actions might have on the future of your organization, your team, or your bottom line.
Developing great strategic thinking skills is a demanding challenge. It requires you gain exposure to strategic roles, synthesize broad information, participate in a culture of curiosity, and gather experiences that allow you to identify patterns and connect the dots in novel ways.
Strategic thinking is a textbook example of an “important, not urgent” activity that tends to get pushed aside by the day-to-day. It requires discipline to carve out dedicated time for learning and deliberate thought.
Developing great strategic thinking skills is a demanding challenge. It requires you gain exposure to strategic roles, synthesize broad information, participate in a culture of curiosity, and gather experiences that allow you to identify patterns and connect the dots in novel ways.
Strategic thinking is a textbook example of an “important, not urgent” activity that tends to get pushed aside by the day-to-day. It requires discipline to carve out dedicated time for learning and deliberate thought.
February 20, 2021
I didn’t go to business school and my professional development courses in design and Architecture focused more on scoping and completing work over strategy. There were definitely some great exercises and techniques in this book but for me, regarding design in government tech, only a third of the book seemed relevant. It’s certainly worth the read and I will keep it around when I need inspiration and to shift my perspective.
October 27, 2022
I read this as a professional development book with a team I manage. Super helpful in structuring strategic planning for a team that has minimal prior experience working on and through strategic plans and visions. Really helped garner and understanding of some approaches and ultimately helped the team get to a better place organizationally.
July 2, 2023
I liked sections 7 and 8 (move from thinking strategically to executing the strategy and navigate strategic thinking challenges). It has the most value-adding insights on how to do the work while being strategic. The rest of the sections were reminders for things that most people already know but usually forget.
August 7, 2023
This was given as a birthday gift from a family friend. Although I do not have much experience working on teams in a business setting, I will absolutely be referring to this in the future throughout my career. Tons of great advice to rethink numerous business scenarios that organizations run into. Each chapter is written by someone different which really keeps the perspectives and advice unique.
December 22, 2019
Like the other HBR book, this one is not extensively organized. The book does group chapters into sections based on their focuses, but the chapters are not necessarily connected.
Strategic thinking has always been a myth to me. This book makes the concept of strategies more practical, and the guidances are actionable.
Recommend this as a reference book for periodical reviewing or when things got stuck.
Strategic thinking has always been a myth to me. This book makes the concept of strategies more practical, and the guidances are actionable.
Recommend this as a reference book for periodical reviewing or when things got stuck.
May 11, 2020
A plethora of frameworks and tactics on how to think and act strategically. Great guide to help someone get out of tunnel vision or a myopic thinking rut. Typical HBR style, articles curated from various consultants, professors, and in this case, strategists. Enjoy.
July 18, 2020
You'll learn, how to maintain a broad perspective, set team and individual goals aligned to the overarching strategy, communicate strategic visions effectively, align team projects, be agile and execute your strategjes and much much more
Will definitely reference this again in times to come
Will definitely reference this again in times to come
February 23, 2021
On the bright side, this book is a series of short articles that vary in usability versus common sense. Another bright side is this is a very quick read.
On the down side, this book still isn't very good for critical business thinking.
On the down side, this book still isn't very good for critical business thinking.
September 14, 2021
An easy story telling way of define, and describe organization al strategy .
The approach of defining strategies with various example and help readers to correlate.
Anyone in leadership or wants to join leadership should consider this research.
The approach of defining strategies with various example and help readers to correlate.
Anyone in leadership or wants to join leadership should consider this research.
January 20, 2023
Some pretty useful pearls in this compendium of HBR articles; some duds too. Overall, a pretty useful guide if you take the time to distill a few key points for yourself (which if course I haven’t done yet).
June 19, 2024
Good pocket go to book to catch up with reminders. Not a book that goes into depth of the subject. So, depending on your strategy great to fresh up and be inspired not so great for an in depth inspiration on strategy
June 25, 2024
Filled with insights and thought provoking ideas
The main ideas are: align your actions with company strategy, be more intentional with your daily work to ensure you are bringing substance, and continue to upskill and network. It got a bit repetitive at times, but I just skipped those.
Highly recommend for newbies who want to level up and lessen the rutinary feeling of their day to day jobs
The main ideas are: align your actions with company strategy, be more intentional with your daily work to ensure you are bringing substance, and continue to upskill and network. It got a bit repetitive at times, but I just skipped those.
Highly recommend for newbies who want to level up and lessen the rutinary feeling of their day to day jobs
April 21, 2019
Provides some useful frameworks and questions to help define strategy, differentiate and change the 'zoom' of your perspective.
February 21, 2020
I like the HBR books but this one just didn’t do it for me. Strategy is a hard thing to write about and this guide proves that for sure.
March 14, 2021
a lot of learnings.
June 23, 2022
there are some strong areas and insights and others that weren't worth doing more than scanning.
August 12, 2023
High-level content with some repetition.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews