Adaptable

• The adaptable strategic thinking method is flexible. Instead of having a plan carved in stone with the rigidity of granite, an adaptable strategic-method thinker designs a loosely based idea of how the business will run and makes adjustments as things arise. For example, hours of operation are set for the year for retail businesses, but as holidays, tax return season and peak shopping events arrive, the hours are temporarily adjusted to garner the most benefit from such changes. A business owner who uses the adaptable method should not use reactive knee-jerk ideas but should remain open to changing direction as needs dictate.
  
  

Goal-Oriented

• The goal-oriented strategic thinking method provides a figurative carrot in front of the horse. Financial or production goals are determined. The company then comes up with a plan to meet those goals. For example, the business owner decides he wants to achieve $10,000 in sales each month. This means he needs to average $2,325 per week. Once he knows this, he can plan his days to achieve the numbers. This means different things to different businesses. Whether it is making X number of sales calls, offering a meal deal to every customer in the restaurant, or getting Y number of widgets through the assembly line each hour, the goal is broken down into attainable steps and then accomplished.
  
  

Fact - Based

• Regardless of the goals and ambitions a company has, the facts are important to remember. Local economy, competition, overhead and ability to employ enough workers all come into play when it comes to strategic thinking. Aligning goals and desires with the facts as they currently exist will keep the goal setting realistic and attainable.
  
  

Focused

• Narrowing the field will give you clarity. Focused strategic thinking removes all excess and focuses on a narrowly defined criteria. For example, instead of trying to rework an entire store and its outcome, focused thinking might tackle the product display first. For a month, all ideas and brainstorming will be devoted to rearranging the products to be more eye pleasing and easy to access. Once this is completed, focused thinking might move to hours of operation and spend some time examining what they are and whether they should be adjusted. Focused thinking breaks the large picture down to individual components and works on them one at a time.