In our last two blogs, we spotlighted Strategic Connectors and a specific Strategic Connector named Gigi and how the Strati-Pro® survey – which shows people where they do and don’t get energy relating to strategic initiatives – helped her strategic initiative (a cloud migration) succeed.
Here, we’ll dive into Thinking Operators and their preferences. The problem with not knowing your preferences is that you may make wrong assumptions about who should be doing what (and fall short in overall effectiveness and success as a result). Thankfully, there is a solution and it’s relatively easy: discover how you and your team are naturally wired to work.
Thinking Operators are the second-most common Strati-Pro® type
Almost 20% of people who have taken the Strati-Pro® survey are Thinking Operators. Many are top executives at some of the world’s best companies. Being a Thinking Operator means getting more energy from work activities like brainstorming, diving into analysis, and working with others to do so. On the flip side, Thinking Operators are less prone to get energy from things like following procedures and implementing standard processes.
Thinking Operators can be great leaders and help with generating new ideas, while also thinking objectively about them, and then rallying others to help. A potential blind spot for a Thinking Operator is skimming over – or skipping altogether – the critical step of figuring how to implement their ideas in a systematic way that increases the odds of its success.
Thinking Operators can benefit from teaming and collaborating intentionally with people who are naturally wired for process. Teaming has the added benefit of filling up a Thinking Operator’s “people tank,” since they tend to get energy from interacting with others.
Another simple way to improve odds of success is to first get clear on the idea. A straightforward way to do this? Succinctly define where you want to go and why, in a given time frame. Then, define your top three priorities by asking what needs to happen and when. Next, articulate how to best achieve those priorities in a few steps. And finally, decide who is the best person to be responsible for getting those things done.
Finding out your Strati-Pro® type is easy
While it’s unfortunate that 70% of strategic initiatives fail (and not because people aren’t working hard or trying), we have a proven solution to greatly increase your success rate. We would love to talk with you about how a simple survey has helped multiple Fortune 500 companies complete their strategic initiatives in less time, for less money. Please email me at akisling@cnsqnt.com to connect.
