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Creating a common language and why strategic thinking is not just for CEO's

Updated: Jun 22, 2022

Gosh, it's so easy to lose sight of priorities when everything seems urgent, isn't it?? I'm working with an organisation at the moment who does super important work. and a really great job of it, but they have been through a LOT of change. They are struggling with workload, silos, poor communication, and instances of mis-matched words and actions. It is really bringing home to me yet again how challenging organisations are. People have always fascinated me because they are so complex, and organisations all the more because collections of people working together to achieve a goal just adds whole other realm of complexity! Everyone knows that CEO's and SLT's need to think strategically, and it is all too common for those below them to point the finger and say they are not. My challenge to you is that everyone, at every level in an organisation, needs to be thinking strategically. It's about everyone understanding the big picture and their role in it. Having a common language for strategy is what crystalises direction and prioritises action. Done well, it helps us as much to say yes as it does to say no - especially when everything feels both important and urgent. And that is how to harness the power of a group of people and get them all pushing in the same direction! In other organisations I've heard lower level employees crying out for more consideration of the why behind picking up large projects and coordination between teams so they don't find out in the lift that they are working on the same thing as another team. What they are asking for is a connection between strategy and action. Their responsibilities lie at the action level, but the problem is that there are too many actions. If teams are getting lumped with too much to do, then middle management is typically getting lumped with too many expectations and not enough focus. So yes, it does all go back to the top, but it can't stop there. A common language for strategy is what builds the bridge.




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Photo by Cas Holmes on Unsplash

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