Many people I’ve spoken to over the last week talk about how hard it is to think strategically. And they also say they want to get better at it.
What I’ve found is that there are a number of blockers to thinking strategically, but one of the biggest is that people think it’s some big thing.
Like, I’m going to don my toga and my laurel-leaf crown, sit on a marble throne and somehow enter a mystical state of thinking strategically.
But that’s not how it works. In practice, it boils down to these 7 steps:
- Find the right problem to solve
- Come up with a good set of options for ways to address the problem
- Think deeply through the options to understand how they’ll play out
- Step away and give yourself some time to background process
- Come back, see how any new thoughts change your thinking
- Weigh the options vs. the resources you have available to you
- Choose the best way forward
Easy, right?
Well…no. Not really.
We tend to screw up quite often with Step 1.
We’re generally OK with Step 2.
We’re generally really, really bad at Step 3.
And we almost never do Steps 4, 5 or 6.
So by the time we’re at Step 7, we’re often pretty screwed before we even take the first step to implementing the plan.
That’s why so many strategies fail to deliver their expected results. In fact, research shows that most organizations miss their expectations by at least 37%. But that’s the average. On an individual basis, it’s often much, much more.
Now, putting the above into the context of the day-to-day security crucible at most organizations who say they don’t have time to turn around and scratch their backside, it’s clear that being a more strategic security team isn’t going to happen by accident.
It takes dedicated effort and a commitment to making it happen—no matter what.
If you’re not happy with your own ability to think strategic or the level of strategic alignment of your security program, let’s get you going on these 7 steps and blast the bottlenecks holding you back so you can make life better for everyone.
That means you, your team and your organization.
Here’s the link: https://archistry.com/go/SecurityLeader
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Andrew S. Townley
Archistry Chief Executive
