Think Big: Move Vision To Action With Strategic Thinking

BY HELEN TSOTSOS

Get ready to turn your great business ideas into something that will wow the masses. But, wait! Where do you start? There always seems to be too much to think about and too much to do. It’s so easy to get bogged down in the details and things never seem to get done. The secret is to take the time to think bigger and then act deliberately. Once you string your great ideas together in a cohesive, coherent manner, create realistic strategies and move into focused action, your powerful vision will magically come to life.

Innovation and creativity are vital to your vision. Explore and investigate new possibilities to expand your vision; it’s exciting and motivating. Don’t get stuck there, though. If you do, your great ideas may never see the light of day. As for getting things done, try not to be impetuous either. If you’re too eager to get going, you may end up with a lack of focus or clear direction.

Moving into effective action requires looking at the big picture. Thinking big lets you foresee the many options and scenarios available to you. Inevitably, this eliminates waste and moves your vision into motion with ease and purpose.

Get very clear on what your ideal future looks like; it’s key to getting you there. Then, analyze the gap between your current reality and this realistic future destination. Be sure to work diligently on these details. As you begin to dig deeper you will discover strengths, resources you may not have even realized you had and insights about what to do next. Each progressive step of exploration will root your powerful vision in reality. This process is known as strategic thinking. It’s the component of vision development that allows for the generation and testing of new concepts.

Strategic thinking, or big picture thinking, is holistic or systems-based. Working with and organizing large pieces of information form it. Strategic thinking also translates into visual thinking. This form of conceptualizing links your intuitive, feeling sense of events in the world with intellectual understanding. It is the bridge that connects your dreams with reality.

The strategic thinking process is an organic one. As it unfolds, you will draw from your past experiences, current wisdom and your vision of the future. The process is creative and flexible. It needs to be free flowing to master the unforeseen. While ideas sprout and flourish, they’ll remain pertinent by maintaining a connection to key strategic thinking criteria.

Start by looking at your organization. How do you see your business in the future? You will probably want to consider who is involved, how the business is structured and the resources you need to make it manifest. This is the place to work out how people, processes and resources will be matched to achieve your ideal vision.

The next consideration is the big picture perspective. This step is about increasing your powers of observation. Expanding awareness provides you with a greater understanding of what motivates people, how to use creativity in problem solving and how to make better decisions overall. This long-range view lets you look into the future and plan for what awaits you there.

Get a clear idea of what’s going on around you. Views are tools to get you to look at the outcomes you want, what specifically is involved and how to adjust your actions to get what you want. Views offer a deep understanding of the arenas that influence your business. They have both an internal and external focus.

Internal views focus on your business environment and the performance of individuals and teams. Here you reflect on leadership style, management, culture and other factors that impact business. Set up standards and competencies for performance; it makes it much easier to measure actual performance if you do. It will let you know where training and other developmental methods should be applied.

External views focus on market factors and social impact. Market factors include competitive forces, niche areas, market trends and economic factors. Social impact focuses on responsibility. Here you can contemplate the contributions that you wish to make for the betterment of your community or humanity through charitable acts or social consciousness. Where would the Body Shop be if this weren’t their primary agenda? Considering these views will no doubt assist you in forming winning strategies.

What are the driving forces that inspire your vision? Driving forces give those within your organization a focal point to connect to. They are what motivates you and will influence any decisions that need to be made. Any strategies you develop will flow from these. Examples of driving forces are vision, mission, values and purpose (qualitative), as well as products, services, customer needs and profit. Take the time to decide what core forces will spark up the whole organization.

After all this contemplation you will have an outline of what your vision includes. You should have discovered the conditions under which your business will thrive and prosper, the market needs your business will satisfy, opportunities that are available for you now or in the future, the core competencies or skills that are necessary to fulfill your vision and the strategies and actions that will bring it all together. All of this knowledge can then be funneled into concrete, doable goals and creative strategies.

The strategic thinking process not only sparks insight about the future, it takes you to it. By creating a broader scope of awareness, clarity sharpens, goals and agendas arise and your vision is infused with life and dimension. Take the time to let your imagination, intuition and creativity discover what’s next for you. You’ll be glad you did.

Helen Tsotsos is an Adler Certified Professional Coach (ACPC), an entrepreneur, a certified trainer and leader. She has partnered 20 years of success as a day spa owner with her Business Coaching practice to serve the industry she knows and loves. Helen understands the needs and challenges of spa professionals and uses her practical wisdom, experience and education to motivate and inspire her clients through change and growth. She has worked with business leaders, managers and executives to support and enhance personal and professional success through powerful visioning, creative strategies and effective action plans. For more information on individual and group coaching, customized training programs and workshops, please contact Helen at (416) 466-1541 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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