How can you use strategic thinking to anticipate industry disruptions?

Strategic thinking is the ability to see beyond the present and envision different scenarios, opportunities, and challenges that may affect your industry, organization, or career. It is a crucial skill for leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to changing markets, customer needs, and competitive forces. In this article, you will learn how to use strategic thinking to anticipate industry disruptions and prepare yourself and your team for the future.

1 Assess your current situation

The first step to strategic thinking is to understand where you are now and what factors are influencing your industry. You can use tools such as SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, Porter's five forces, or value chain analysis to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and sources of competitive advantage. You should also monitor the trends, innovations, and best practices in your industry and beyond, and evaluate how they affect your business model, value proposition, and customer segments.

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Maytham Al-Elg

Localization Strategy Director at Baker Hughes
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It is key to understand the industry needs in the current time and how this will evolves with time looking at the surrounding. Part of thinking in a strategic way is thinking without boundaries which involve looking at industries buoyed the industry you are in at present. The fast evolvement of technology affecting industries in a disruptive way, mandate a fast thinking with a strategic actioned plane to be always updated and in line with the changing requirements. So strategic thinking is a must to overcome and move with the industry disruption, however these strategies needs to be put in an actionable plan and implementation needs to be fast to better utilisation and avoid being a time wasting.

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Gustavo D.

Innovative and Inclusive Learning & Development Thought Leader supporting a human-centered approach to CAIO leadership
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To effectively facilitate strategic thinking means reinventing, disrupting, and bringing down conventional wisdom about existing processes (SWOT, PESTEL…). The most technologically advanced car won’t be able to land on the moon, so expecting your team to anticipate trends, while still “driving a car”, is like betting on winning the lottery every time. By inviting a shape shifting model approach to welcoming a multilevel diversity of thinking, teams can visualize unthinkable scenarios.

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2 Explore alternative futures

The next step to strategic thinking is to imagine what could happen in the future and how it could impact your industry. You can use techniques such as scenario planning, foresight, or what-if analysis to create plausible, relevant, and diverse scenarios that reflect different assumptions, uncertainties, and events. For example, you could ask yourself: What if a new technology disrupts our industry? What if a new regulation changes the rules of the game? What if a new competitor enters our market? What if a global crisis affects our supply chain?

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Gustavo D.

Innovative and Inclusive Learning & Development Thought Leader supporting a human-centered approach to CAIO leadership
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A team’s capacity to explore promising alternative futures is limited by their innovation awareness of “meaningless” realities. Simply knowing what questions to ask will lead nowhere when those are presented to unprepared minds.

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3 Identify strategic options

The third step to strategic thinking is to generate and evaluate possible courses of action that could help you achieve your goals, overcome your challenges, and seize your opportunities in each scenario. You can use tools such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or decision matrix to generate and prioritize your strategic options. You should also consider the risks, costs, benefits, and trade-offs of each option, and how they align with your vision, mission, and values.

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Gustavo D.

Innovative and Inclusive Learning & Development Thought Leader supporting a human-centered approach to CAIO leadership
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When the two previous steps fail to deliver, all the options developed afterwards will fall short, and have limited impact. If, however, you have succeeded, a GUT (gravity, urgency, time) analysis is one of the many helpful tools for helping set priorities.

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4 Develop contingency plans

The fourth step to strategic thinking is to prepare for the unexpected and ensure that you have backup plans in case your preferred option fails or a new disruption occurs. You can use tools such as risk management, mitigation strategies, or contingency matrices to identify and reduce the potential threats and vulnerabilities that could derail your plans. You should also communicate your contingency plans to your stakeholders, team members, and partners, and assign roles and responsibilities for their execution.

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5 Implement and monitor

The final step to strategic thinking is to put your plans into action and monitor their results and feedback. You can use tools such as project management, action plans, or performance indicators to define your objectives, tasks, timelines, and measures of success. You should also track and evaluate your progress and outcomes, and adjust your plans as needed based on the changing circumstances and new information. You should also celebrate your achievements and learn from your failures.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you use strategic thinking to anticipate industry disruptions?

1

2

3

4

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1 Assess your current situation

2 Explore alternative futures

3 Identify strategic options

4 Develop contingency plans

5 Implement and monitor

6 Here’s what else to consider

Leadership Development Coaching

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How can you use strategic thinking to anticipate industry disruptions?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your current situation

2 Explore alternative futures

3 Identify strategic options

4 Develop contingency plans

5 Implement and monitor

6 Here’s what else to consider

Leadership Development Coaching

Rate this article

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