Strategic Thinking Skills

by Stanley K. Ridgley

Start making savvier decisions and outsmart your competitors with greater confidence and ease with this simple and comprehensive guide to the skills, tactics, techniques, tools, case studies, and lessons behind strategic thinking. Professor Ridgley has crafted these 24 lectures as an accessible way to engage with thinking that will help you think-and act-more strategically in business and in your own life, whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or you're preparing to embark on a new career path.

These lectures are loosely organized around several key topics central to effective strategic thinking, including: principles of conflict (in which you'll follow the development of strategic theory from its roots in great military campaigns to its modern applications in business); competitive intelligence (which plays an increasingly important role in strategic thinking); and tools of strategy and analysis (which can aid your understanding of the forces that shape our future and can help you make sense of a rapidly changing world).

Central to these lectures are the tools and tricks that strategic thinkers have used to better approach problems and seek lasting solutions. Among those you'll learn how to use are the indirect approach (which offers you a much greater utility in achieving your objectives without approaching your opponent head-on); the value chain (a method that divides your team or organization into its value - producing activities so you can better inform yourself on its internal strengths and weaknesses; and the four actions framework (in which you ask yourself four questions to challenge your established logic in an effort to gain a stronger competitive advantage).

Genres: Business, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Psychology, Leadership, Self Help, Science

12 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Stanley K. Ridgley, PhD is one of the country’s foremost experts on delivering Business School Presentations and is the author of the award-winning 2012 book, “The Complete Guide to Business School Presenting.”

He is also the faculty instructor for the course “Strategic Thinking” in the DVD series TheGreatCourses.com.

Dr. Ridgley brings to bear the most powerful instructional techniques from one of America’s great business schools and combines them with the lessons of military leadership and high strategy learned on the front lines of the Cold War as a Military Intelligence Officer.

Reviews

[Sami Albanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worth it course on Strategy. It is a refresher course with quick reviews of many of the methods and techniques. It is make a valuable contribution linking the various disciplines together. It links well military strategy, business strategy, and personal examples.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a time in my life where this entire course probably would have been somewhat boring to me. But, now that I've attempted a few challenges of my own, I find Professor Ridgley's lectures accessible and useful, designed with an excellent combination of the abstract/ theoretical and historical case studies.

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening series of lectures that have helped me understand my life.

[Marcin · Rating 2 out of 5]

IMHO lack of structure

[Lukasz Nalepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

That uhm... book, or rather Audiobook is a set of lectures about the strategic thinking skills. To be honest, I don't feel I've learned a lot about those. If there were nuggets of concrete wisdom or actionable tools and examples, they were buried to deeply in gazillion of war stories, fun facts and speculations. Fortunately those war stories, fun facts and speculations was fun to listen to, and gave a bit of value on their own, broadening horizons and simply entertaining. Due to that, it's three stars instead of two. But honestly, looking only at why I've reached for this book I am deeply unsatisfied with the outcomes.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good overview. Obviously people come at this stuff from a lot of different backgrounds, and this wasn't particularly tailored to any one approach, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. There were entire lectures that were useless to me, but overall, I learned a lot and it's a good starting point.

[Drury · Rating 2 out of 5]

This lecture series was okay, but is at a very introductory level. The professor's mispronounciation of proper nouns and unnecessary overuse of Russian vernacular were distracting. I would recommend Strategy by Lawrence Freedman to anyone who would like a more comprehensive look at this subject matter.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent course with practical insights on strategic thinking skills.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the book on audible and followed along on the outline provided by the Great Courses. My interest in the book was due to my curiosity about how non profit organizations and especially churches could learn better ways to think strategically. I was not disappointed. While the book drew from military, business, political, and sports arenas, it also gave me (indirectly) several things to provoke my thinking on strategy in churches. Not every chapter was of equal value, but I especially appreciated the chapters on geography, strategic intent, finding the blue ocean, core of strategic planning, various tests to examine reality one's organization faces, acquisition and use of intelligence, cooperation strategies, intuition, and analyzing why strategy breaks down.

[Jamie Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the Professor 's voice annoying and a bit distressing. I have sound sensitivity so my opinion is very subjective when it comes to his voice. It may just be the recording quality and his actual voice is fine. The subject isn't my cup of tea because I don't strategize well and I don't have to win. Some of the points were historically informative and therefore I liked those details. But I have heard most of it before from a how the mind\brain works viewpoint. I think this course is for those who love strategy or haven't been introduced to much about this subject.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lectures on strategic thinking are clear and well presented. I think there are practical lessons here for people in leadership positions or key decision makers. The focus and examples was heavily influenced by military strategy which I had a hard time relating to, also business competition. There are applications and strategies outside of military and business that are important and were not elaborated on thus limiting the generalizability of application of some of the lessons .

[Allan Laal · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit dry, but applicable for all aspects of Life

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable walk along strategic thinking. Really started to get into the book about 1/2 way through. Nice stories and analogies about ways to approach the world.

[أسامة]

Great info that needs rereading

[Sabina-Nicoleta Furtună (Sally) · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okish lecture which I expected to be a thorough book on the topic of strategy. Lacking in depth and filled with case studies to detract from the fact it's not that.

[Talal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives you some good ideas but not all of it can be implemented in real life situations.

[Ali Khayyat · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must-read, or listen, whichever fits your time.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series covered a lot of ground from different perspectives... sports, military, business, personal life. High on description and good place to start further studies, but as to a course that developed skills not so helpful (although it was helpful in identifying topics for one to explore futher and with more specificity).

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have read Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz in addition to business case strategy, there is not much fresh here. The author goes into depth as to how business schools and the military treat strategy with all the terms and jargon that is used. Great for a beginner, good for the seasoned strategist.

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but it was hard to finish. There are examples all over the place and lacking in any concrete and practical conclusions. If you have taken game theory, business, sports strategy, or war history I would pass on this. It's also surprisingly dry despite covering an intriguing subject. Your milage will vary.

[Ms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in-depth study. Good to know that some of the old methods I learnt at university are still relevant (SWOT, PEST). There is new information too but if you don't like American football, you will tire of the examples very quickly. As I did.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lectures about how to think about strategy and bring it into our lives, in ways to avoid systemic problems and realise our plans. I thouroughly enjoyed the insights and the stories about real life situations.

[Aleks · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an intro to the subject it was okay, it certainly lead me to other writers on the topic which was to me, more valuable.

[Ravi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is strategy? How to think strategically and what could you lose without it? This one has answers.

[Leif Denti · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too shallow and introductory for my taste. A lot of the examples for the concepts and theories also come from militay history, which probably has no validity in modern settings.

[Brendon Connelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay. Lots of discussion around military models and examples.

[Bart Du Bois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit lengthy, yet worth it. Lots of war analogies. Pointed me to cooperation literature.