Customer Reviews

Ahead of the Curve: A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking

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In the marketplace, there isn't much good books written from the personal strategic thinking standpoint. I can only recall one really good one, & that is, Choosing the Future: The Power of Strategic Thinking by Stuart Wells.

This particular one by the founders of Center for Management Organisation Effectiveness is one I have just recently come across. (The book is apparently based on their Applied Strategic Thinking workshop.) After perusing it, I find it to be an excellent guide/resource, which any interested reader can add to their Strategic Thinking Bookshelf.

Most strategic thinking books focus at the corporate planning &/or boardroom level. Big strategy. The grand plan. Nothing wrong with that. This particular one brings the concept & philosophy of strategic thinking down to the individually applied level, as well as the immediate team, at the front lines. The authors offer an interesting application model which combines 'strategic landscape' with 'strategic dashboard.' This one model is definitely worth exploring.

Unlike most strategic thinking books, the authors don't waste time dwelling into the historical perspectives.

I also like their contextual premise: Effective strategic thinkers focus not on what can't be done, but finding a way to do what must be done.

I really appreciate the authors' strategic way of interpersing the chapters with appropriate graphic icons & provoking quotations as they share real-life experiences, illustrated examples & straigh-forward ctivities & practical tools. These make the reading a quick & easy breeze!

In a nutshell, these are the chapters:

- Introduction to Strategic Thinking;
- Strategic Landscape;
- Strategic Thinking: An Overview of the Fin Art of Practical;
- Tame the Beast;
- Acquire the Target;
- Gather Intelligence;
- Analyse Forces;
- Define Scenarios;
- Chart Course;
- Mobilise & Sustain;
- The Future;

Surprisingly, the authors did not include a bibliography or references at the end of the book. However, they did mention a few other pertinent books in the various chapters.

If you like this book, please feel free to explore the principal author's other books.

"Ahead of the Curve; A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking" by Steven J. Stowell and Stephanie S. Mead is a book that provides excellent tools for team members and leaders at all levels and in any size organization to become more effective strategic thinkers. The authors bring in examples of people who have utilized strategic thinking effectively, which helps increase my ability to apply what I'm reading, making it real. The book reminds (or educates) us that strategic thinkers aren't, or shouldn't be, found only in company boardrooms but throughout every organization, team or group. The model shared in this book has been extremely helpful to me as I strive to make effective decisions in both the personal and professional areas of my life. The "strategic dashboard" element in one section of the model is a highlight and can provide guidance in one of the more challenging but highly impactful areas of thinking strategically, that being the ability to work on the right things or effectively "acquiring the target" thereby increasing the ability to be successful. Having had the opportunity to experience a more in-depth look at the contents of this book through participation in the workshop conducted by the authors as well as having facilitated said workshop, I can enthusiastically state that I have become a much more effective strategic thinker. Leaders I've talked with about the model and the details found in this book have expressed how helpful this has been to them and to their efforts to stay ahead of the many curves that come rushing at all of us in our lives. The future is rushing at us at what seems to be an ever increasing speed. With the help of the authors' applied strategic thinking model and guidance found in this book, we can stay in control and turn the steering wheel well before we're at risk of sliding off the road through the curves life brings our way. While we won't be able to tell the future, the model and guidance in this book can help us be more adept at making decisions that result in bigger and better results. After all, including the word "applied" in the book's title and model isn't an accident; it's all about applying those things that can increase our effectiveness and our efficiency. I highly recommend this book!

This book is for people who want to escape from the "activity trap" and start thinking strategically about all aspects of their lives. For me, the book's strength is its clear-cut, seven-step model for thinking, planning and acting strategically. The book contains a lot of practical examples that I found very beneficial. I believe "Ahead of the Curve" is intended for people who want to have greater success in the future.

Ahead of the Curve; Applied Strategic Thinking - during performance reviews last year, I came to the realization that my team of managers was very good at executing our plans, but were spending very little time planning strategy for the future. Having read and discussed the concepts together, my team felt better prepared to make strategic thinking a part of their developmental plan. This book was an excellent tool to help us jump start our teams strategic thinking and energized the team.

Want to achieve more than you thought? Have a clearer picture of what the future might bring? Then this is the book for you. Dr. Stowell and Ms. Mead give a model that anyone can use to get on track so that future events don't derail you. It is written in an easy to read format with each element explained and examples given. I rate this as the book to have, both for personal use as well as business.

Ahead of the Curve: A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking (Hardcover)

Are you an active force in shaping your future or simply being on the receiving side of the inevitable "jolt" of change? Stowell and Mead suggest a practical approach to becoming a strategic force in an organization's future. The strategic leader lays the groundwork for future opportunities. Examples of powerful questions set the context for establishing a cultural of reflective and analytical thinking. This starts by "stepping back" from daily activity and discovering what strategic thinking means to each individual and member of any leadership, management or natural work team: how are you adding value to your organization in the long term.

A practical model is presented to help us visualize our work environment from a strategic perspective. Of the four zones described (Operator, Planner, Inventor, Strategist) on a horizontal axis of time and a vertical axis of imagination, the Strategist operates in environment of strategic opportunity, thinking both broad and long term. The Strategist has an uncanny ability to anticipate, recognize and convert changes into opportunities. Strategy is about improving your position to make a difference in the organization. The secret is recognizing how to apply this way of thinking on a daily basis to the most mundane of activities in order to uncover new ideas, proving value and moving ahead of the curve.

What can we do to make this applied approach work? We must find a way to mentally step back and have a conversation about the future with a mentor, team member, supervisor or trusted advisor. Observe how the organization and its parts fit together, gain a perspective of perspicacity. Develop habits that will strengthen the strategic mind: Seek out knowledge and information; be curious; be self-motivated; be collaborative; be playful with ideas; go on a learning journey.

A C.L.E.A.R. target provides a basic rule: Nothing about strategic thinking is all that complex. A good target that is well defined has a certain profile. Controllable, Linked, Energizing, Actionable, Result-Oriented. The importance of this goal model to me is the focus on the energizing and action focus of the entire book. The initiative must be exciting, fun and rewarding, but must at all costs lead to reasonable implementation or you gain nothing. If not result-oriented, then you have wasted finite resources and are simply marking time. Finally, the future is not as far away as you think - so get ahead of the curve and avoid the jolt of running into the wall of change you did not anticipate. This book is worth having at your desk and reviewing in a reflective intentional manner.

Dennis Rogers, Director of Strategic Learning, Division of Strategic Development, Social and Rehabilitation Services, State of Kansas.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ahead of the Curve and applying the fundamentals taught in this book. Dr. Stowell provides ideas on how the application of strategic thinking can be a turn-key process. Not only does his knowledge help you fill in the gaps you knew your organization had, it assists in identifying how to avoid the gaps and speed bumps all together by following a simple method. I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking to establish a more analytical and decisive approach when focusing on strategy.

I bought this book after reading one of the Amazon reviews. After reading the book, I was impressed in the value and concepts it offered towards the idea of strategy. From a Senior Management perspective, this works for both the organization as an entity and those "individuals using it daily" as was mentioned in another review. Strategic gold.

I've read through a number of books on strategy and feel this is one I can put to good use and speaks to me. It discussed how to "apply" strategy rather than just telling you what it is. Most of the other books on strategy are academic and seem to be solely informative. This is something you could give to front line management and senior team who could all relate. If you want to learn how to think strategically, this is for you. If you want a more traditional text book style read on strategy, you might want something else. This could be a good companion if you choose that route.

Great book for those wanting to learn why it is important to think strategically. It is easy to read and full of great insights. Your life is likely to change once you use the concepts and skills that are described in this book. It doesn't come with a laundry list of steps for you to do but it does provide guidance.
The time to make change work for you is now.