Is Strategic Thinking Systems Thinking?

Takeaways: Strategic thinking incorporates both a balance of creativity (mapping new paths, looking at outcomes) and analytical thought (identifying actions and processes to execute) , each utilized at different times when working on a problem or issue.

I started an interesting discussion in my LinkedIn Strategic and Systems Thinking  group in September 2010, with the question “Is strategic thinking systems thinking?  It’s generated quite a bit of discussion.

Don Officer of Canada said “If your need is to operate within a system, you should focus on the dynamics of systems and that one in particular. If you need to skirt, create or examine interrelationships among systems, you will have to adopt a more strategic approach. ”

Luke Van der Laan of Australia suggests that “Strategic thinking requires a balance of creativity (mapping new paths) and analytical (understanding the systems) thought processes. Most often the ‘intuitive’ strategic thinker relies mostly on their professional experience and the (mostly) analytical thought processes.”

Dick Baynham added, “I see systems thinking as our existing knowledge of the universe and the tiny part of it we are operating in. While I see strategic thinking as the imagination required to consider that universe and ponder ‘what if?’.”

You can participate in the discussion by joining the Strategic and Systems Thinking Group on LinkedIn.