what’s on

today?

‐strategic‐thinkingperformancequestionscontributionsoperational savvy

My life journey

….how do you think?

“ The most important benefit of strategic thinking isthe resultant strategic shared vision

among your management team ”

Birnbaum,B (2004). Strategic Thinking: A Four Piece Puzzle 

Companies that cultivate an environment that allows for peak individual performance are rewarded with peak company performance.

The most successful organizations are

Conley, Chip (2007) PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow

avoids ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers :Questions that can only have binary answers leave

the person being asked in an uncreative and passive state.

question empowers:‘What would you like to do to [achieve your goal]?’

there is a confidence expressed that they can contribute to the process.

asks the unaskable questions:For every individual, group, or society, some questions are taboo. A strategic question often challenges the values that an issue rests upon. Asking taboo questions in a nonpartisan way can be a great service to anyone with an issue on which she or he is ‘stuck.’

creates motion: By asking questions focused on ‘how can we move?’, they are dynamic and don’t allow a situation to stay stuck.

creates options: ‘What don’t you [do x]?’ is a question that is

dynamic in one direction. A strategic opens opens the options up… ‘What would you like to do?’

digs deeper: Questions can be like a lever you use to pry open the stuck lid on a paint can. A short lever will only just crack open that lid. But if we have a longer lever, or a more dynamic question, we can pry off the lid and really stir things up.

avoids ‘why’: Most ‘why’ questions force you to defend an existing decision or rationalize the present. ‘Why’ questions can create resistance to change.

Peavy, Fran (1997) Strategic Questioning: An Experiment in Communication of the Second Kind

The most important factor in becoming a strategic contributor is the ability to create organizational cultures that focuson the meeting the needs of external customers. 

Susan MeisingerFormer President/CEO of Societyfor Human Resource Management (SHRM)

A note from the President

Meisinger, Susan (2003, August) Strategic contributions: the crucial competency. HR Magazine. 

Keys to being a Strategic Contributors

1. Use culture to align executive and employee behavior with desired business outcomes

2. Facilitate “fast change”

3. Identify problems that are central to business strategy, provide alternatives and bring an intellectual perspective to the process

4. Keep employees connected to the marketplace

Meisinger, Susan (2003, August) Strategic contributions: the crucial competency. HR Magazine. 

“Great things to happen by using common sense and operational savvy

as ways of doing business.”

Ask yourself:How well do I know our operations?

Professional • Talent Management• Culture Change Initiatives• Organization/Business Change Initiatives• Contingency Plans

• Curriculum Design & Development• Corporate Partnerships • Many leadership 

opportunities/capacities

Academic• Ph.D. in O.B. & Education• Marketing Doctorate Focus• Curriculum Design• Research through U.N.T.

DallasHR PresidentChair, Graduate School of Business

PoliticsChanging Business DemandsStrategic vs. Tactical ThinkingSeat at the TableRole Unclearly DefinedSocial Media

Engagement

Service

DevelopmentStrategic Acumen

Destiny

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

General Norman Schwarzkopf