Despite being heard in offices around the country thousands of times per day, the ubiquitous ‘be more strategic’ feedback is obscure. Because rarely does anyone take the time to define ‘strategic’ in the context that they’re using it. Which leaves the receiver confused and unsure about how to proceed to fix the problem.
When someone tells you to ‘be more strategic’ it implies that you’re not currently being very strategic at all. But without context, it’s hard to know how to improve. Don’t sit back and wait for a sign from the heavens. Get assertive. Because being ‘strategic’ isn’t all that difficult.
Your Go-To Question
There is a point to everything you’re asked to do at work. Maybe it’s not a good point, maybe it’s not well thought out, maybe you disagree with it, but the task is meant to accomplish a goal. In Canada at least, tasks always fit in to someone’s idea of the bigger picture of productivity.
Thus, the most important questions you can ask yourself before commencing any task are: What result am I contributing to? What are the goals here? How does this task feed into the big items that I/my team/the organization are trying to accomplish?
Make no mistake, all tasks are part of a larger puzzle. If you understand where it fits, you will understand how to execute it. Your boss is asking you to do x in order to accomplish y. If you can identify that goal and keep it in mind when you deliver, you will be well on your way to being more strategic.
Force Them to Tell You Their Definition of Strategic
One of the main problems with the feedback ‘be more strategic’ is that there are a hundred definitions of ‘strategic’, and people rarely tell you which one they’re using. To compound the problem, most people don’t interrogate themselves on what they mean when they say ‘strategic’. We’ve seen this throughout our careers, the use of the word ‘strategic’ by someone who doesn’t bother to define it. Very annoying.
What can you do? You force them to tell you.
How? First, you define the term for yourself. Second, you use it consistently. If you don’t have your own definition, you can borrow ours for now: “Align to the larger context of what your boss and your boss’s boss are accountable for + the long term goals of the organization. Put everything in writing and include it with your deliverable.”
Once you have a working definition of ‘strategic’, you apply it to everything you do. Been asked to write a briefing note on why the company should start selling in Mongolia? Use your definition by relating your note to your boss’s performance agreement (is she accountable for developing Asian markets? A certain sales volume?), her boss’s performance agreement (you may not be privy to this one, but there have definitely been team meetings with annual goals outlined – you should have those taped on your wall), and the goals of the organization (to be the go-to detergent in Asia? To have market share on every continent?).
The definition is useful everywhere! Been asked to figure out a solution for your current shipping woes? Use your definition. Been asked to create a new filing system for all your electronic documents? Use your definition. Hell, even if you’re asked to arrange a going away lunch for a colleague, use your definition.
The benefits of consistent application are twofold.
One, you get practice thinking about all the other puzzle pieces that drive business in your organization. And two (even more important we think) is that using your definition consistently will force people to tell you if theirs is different.
Because we have learned, over many many years of getting ripped apart for mistakes, that if you put something inaccurate into the world, the world will correct you. The world always gives you feedback. It’s your job to notice and use it to get better. So if your boss says, “I like your analysis, but what I’m really looking for is how I can get promoted,” you know what he thinks strategic is. You working to help him get ahead.
Your Stockpile of ‘Strategic’ Additions
Being strategic is kind of like what we were told in grade school math. Show your work. Don’t state your conclusion without offering the analysis, because the analysis is what demonstrates your strategic thinking.
Analysis is your thought process. It’s what you considered, how you weighed information. It’s what you rejected. It’s why you came to your conclusion.
Like showing how you got to the answer, analysis is the process.
Not sure what to include? Here’s a starting analysis toolkit for you:
- Implications – What might happen if we go ahead with this plan?
- Dependencies – What needs to happen in order for us to execute?
- Risks – What are some obstacles or challenges that you foresee? How can you mitigate them?
- Trade-offs – What are we sacrificing? What will change?
- Opportunity Costs – What are we not going to do if we go ahead with this thing?
- Next Steps – Perhaps the most important piece of analysis you can do: identifying the next steps. We can’t tell you how many meetings we’ve been in full of interesting, useful dialogue, but then everyone walks out of the room and nothing happens because no next steps were identified and assigned. People want to know what to do. Any report you do, any email you write, outline what needs to be done and who should do it. And if you aren’t in a position to assign tasks, identify that tasks need to be assigned and ask for input.
Final Thought on Strategy
‘Strategic’ has become a buzzword, and that makes us naturally want to reject it as empty and devoid of meaning. But underneath the overuse is an important foundational concept. Ultimately, whatever you do at work, it’s to drive the business forward. Seeing tasks not in isolation, but as part of the big picture of where the company wants to go is the essence of being strategic.