One way you may learn to think more strategically is to use a model to think about environmental and situational factors.
"Models are a mentally visual way of linking theory with experiment, and they guide research by being simplified representations ... that enable predictions ... Scientists start with a small amount of data and build up a better and better representation of the phenomena they are explaining or using for prediction as time goes on." (Science Learning Hub, 2011)
Multiple Terms for the Same Thing: Strategic thinking is very similar to model thinking which is very similar to systems thinking, etc. etc. Academics who are publishing about these topics might disagree on the fine points of difference, but for our purposes we can just consider them to be almost exactly the same. I know it's annoying when these multiple terms for the same thing issues come up, but that's what happens when several different branches of science all apply to one topic.
Watch this video for a lecture from Dr. Scott E. Page's Model Thinking course, available on Coursera. In his lectures, he describes reasons why a person would want to take a modeling course. These reasons fall into four broad categories:
To be an intelligent citizen of the world
To be a clearer thinker
To understand and use data
To better decide, strategize, and design
"Evidence shows that people who think with models consistently outperform those who don't. And, moreover people who think with lots of models outperform people who use only one." (Page, n.d.)
"Anyone who ventures a projection, or imagines how a social dynamic--an epidemic, war, or migration--would unfold is running some model. But typically, it is an implicit model in which the assumptions are hidden, their internal consistency is untested, their logical consequences are unknown, and their relation to data is unknown. But, when you close your eyes and imagine an epidemic spreading, or any other social dynamic, you are running some model or other. It is just an implicit model that you haven't written down. The choice... is not whether to build models, it's whether to build explicit ones. In explicit models, assumptions are laid out in detail, so we can study exactly what they entail." (p.1, Epstein, 2008)
Kabacoff, R. (2014, February 7). Develop strategic thinkers throughout your organization [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/02/develop-strategic-thinkers-throughout-your-organization
Systems Mapping is something practiced in business schools, typically at the graduate level. However, I have found that it can be extremely useful in corporate environments for explaining why one intervention should be adopted over another, for proving the worth of an argument, etc. etc. Basically, an image can sometimes speak a thousand words in these situations. They are particularly useful for explaining and understanding the key components of a complex issue - such as those we regularly explore in this class. The essence of seeing systems is to think in circles rather than in straight lines. You have to develop a map of feedback loops - meaning a map that shows how one thing affects another.
Mapping Assignment Tips (includes ideas to map)
In chapter two of Bolman and Deal (2013), the authors explore how properties of human nature and of modern organizations interact to create problems and pressures in everyday managerial life. Characteristics of human thinking and perception contribute to these difficulties in several ways:
Human fallibility is a reality and human error always a possibility.
Miscommunication is a constant risk.
People are routinely satisfied with limited understanding of a situation, convinced that there are few options.
Faced with ambiguity, people will fit the world to their internal maps and assume that they understand what is happening.
People develop theories and patterns to help make sense of their worlds and find it difficult to question or revise those patterns.
They then discuss the three main commonsense 'theories,' which are best described by being called limited mental models, that people often use to interpret organizational life: blame individuals, blame the bureaucracy, and attribute problems to a thirst for power. Each is based on a partial truth, but all are incomplete and misleading.
From your reading this lesson about the leadership triangle, you should know how important understanding the environment is and that another word for environment is situation. Without understanding the situation properly, you can never understand leadership. And, without that understanding, you'll be much less effective in being a true leader, in managing, motivating, etc.
Always remember that organizations are: Complex, Surprising, Deceptive, and Ambiguous. So you must be aware of your mental models in order to move forward, to dig deeper and to employ systematic thinking (i.e. system maps) so you know what is really going on. The four frames are one way to accomplish this.
The essence of seeing systems is to think in circles rather than in straight lines. You have to develop a map of feedback loops - meaning a map that shows how one thing affects another. For this assignment, you need to map a system and turn it in to the D2L Assignment. Don't worry too much about colors and images if they don't help you think about the topic - but be sure to connect concepts.
Video: The Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Difference
Chapter 3, Leading with Cultural Intelligence
The visual they provide in the chapter is actually of an interpretation of the framework (ABCD of CI) and NOT a representation of the Cultural Intelligence Model (shown here). Honestly I could take or leave the framework, I didn't find it very helpful. However, I find the model itself invaluable. But that difference is one most people in the world don't understand - and scientists/scholars/textbook writers assume that you do. In order to be an effective systems thinker, something I hope you've realized you should be striving for if you want to be an effective systems thinker, something I hope you've realized you should be striving for if you want to be an exceptional leader. This idea will be the main concept we explore this lesson.
CI/CQ (Cultural Intelligence) is considered an intelligence, which makes it a little different from most social science models, what it tells us is the 4 capabilities/competencies that make up a person's CQ. A person with high levels of all 4 would also have high CQ - that's the model. The reason it's important to know that there are 4 competencies in it is that it makes it helps us to see what we need to develop in a person or ourselves to improve CQ.
Brown, B. A. (Ed). (Fall, 2015). Cultural intelligence defined: Applying model/systems thinking to cultural intelligence [Online Class Materials]. LDRV 401. Sierra Vista, Arizona: University of Arizona South.
Brown, B.A. (Ed). (Fall, 2015). Part I: Systems map(s) [Online Class Materials]. LDRV 401. Sierra Vista, Arizona: University of Arizona South.
Brown, B.A. & Lunsford, L. G. (Eds). (Fall, 2015). Environments: Model thinking [Online Class Materials]. PSYV 471. Sierra Vista, Arizona: University of Arizona South.
Wittman, R. C. & Brown, B. A. (Eds). (Spring, 2016). Making sense of the organization: Learning activity #2 [Online Class Materials]. LDRV 302. Sierra Vista, Arizona: University of Arizona South.