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MindsetReset Your Thinking and See the Future

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

Mindset “drives every aspect of our lives, from work to sports, from relationships to parenting.” (Dweck, 2006). It affects :

What we pay attention to (and don’t)What we retrieve from memoryThe way you process relevant informationDecision Making Self-efficacy Openness to learningResponses to authority/leader figures

Why?

The Importance of Mindset

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How are Mindset’s Formed?

Our assumptions encase us in the past.

Test Your Mindset # 1What do you believe about your intelligence?

Your intelligence is something very basic that cannot change much.

You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.

No matter how intelligent you are, you can always improve.

You can substantially change how intelligent you are.

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Awareness TestAgility is the ability to switch from a strategic mindset -“Why and What” –

to a

tactical mindset -“How and When” - in a rapid and iterative processes

Pisapia, J. (2009). The Strategic Leader. Charlotte: NC: IAP 8

And, just how do I do this in real life?

• Mental filters (patterned responses)• Overconfidence (far too certain)• Penchant for confirming rather than

disconfirming evidence• Dislike for ambiguity (want certainty)• Group think (Abilene effect)

Recognize the Blinders

PJH Schoemaker and GS Day Driving through the Fog, Long Range Planning 37 (2003): 127-142

WELL - It’s a challenge!

• Moving beyond pattern response and habitual thinking that no longer works well when uncertainty is dominant.

• Re-training our brains to make new connections (ie be creative).

• Moving our brains from automatic pilot to manual steering.

Well - It’s about changing the way you think…

The Theoretical Frame

The Strategic Thinking Skills

The Strategic Thinking Skills

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking refers to the ability to think holistically, defining the entire problem by extracting patterns in the information one collects before breaking the problem into parts

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Examples – Systems Thinking SkillsGood Habits

• Try to extract rules and/or patterns from the information available• Search for the cause before taking action. • Find that one thing indirectly leads to another• Try to understand how the facts presented in a problem are related to each

other• Try to identify external forces which affect your work• Try to understand how the people in the situation are connected to each other• Look for fundamental long-term corrective measures• Look at the ‘Big Picture’ in the information available before examining the

details• Seek specific feedback on your organization’s performance• Think about how different parts of the organization influence the way things

are doneBad Habits

View relationships individually as opposed to being part of an interwoven networkBreak the problem into parts before defining the entire problem

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The Strategic Thinking Skills

Reframing Reframing refers to the ability to switch attention across multiple perspectives, frames, mental models, and paradigms in order to generate new insights and options for actions.

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Leader. Charlotte, NC: IAP

Examples – Reframing SkillsGood Habits• Seek different perceptions• Track trends by asking everyone if they notice changes in the organization's

context.• Engage in discussions with those whose values differ from yours• Use different viewpoints to map out strategies• Recognize when information is being presented from only one perspective • Listen to everyone’s version of what happened before making a decision? • Engage in discussions with those who have different beliefs or assumptions

about a situation?

Bad Habits• Find only one explanation for the way things work? ® • Decide upon a point of view before seeking a solution to a problem? ®• Create a plan to solve a problem, before considering other viewpoints? ®• Discuss the situation only with people who share your beliefs

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The Strategic Thinking Skills

Reflecting

Reflection refers to the ability to weave logical and rational thinking together with experiential thinking through perceptions, experience, and information in order to make judgments as to: (a) what has happened; and (b) create intuitive principles to guide what is happening in the present and future.

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Examples – Reflecting SkillsGood Habits• Review the outcomes of past decisions• Reconstruct an experience in your mind • Consider how you could have handled the situation after it was resolved • Accept that your assumptions could be wrong• Acknowledge the limitations of your own perspective• Ask “WHY” questions when trying to solve a problem• Frame problems from different perspectives • Connect current problems to your own personal experience and previous

successes • Take into account the effects of decisions others have made in similar

situations

Bad Habits• Ignore past decisions when considering current similar situations? ® • Ignore past experiences when trying to understand present situations

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More Effective leaders use the three strategic thinking skills significantly more often than Less Effective leaders.

Reyes-Guerra & Yasin, 2006 - Pang & Pisapia, 2006 - N=900

There is a cumulative impact - The strength of the relationship between strategic thinking and leader success increases as leaders use the three dimensions in tandem.

Skill use improves with age, experience, and education– the younger you are the less you use these skills. Since the age bias is present, there are implications for teaching at early entry career levels.

Strategic thinking skills can be developed through training. There is a significant relationship between strategic thinking capabilities and self directed learning.

STQ Findings Thus Far

Selected Books and Articles• Strategic Leadership

Pisapia, J. (2009). The strategic leader. Charlotte: Information Age Publishers.

Strategic ThinkingPerry Geri (2010). The relationship of strategic thinking skills and technology usage among Firefighters. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida Atlantic University

• Pisapia, J. & Glick-Cuenot (2010). Strategic thinking skills and undergraduate student academic success. Paper presented at the American Higher Education Conference, Williamsburg, Va.

• Pisapia, J., Pang, N.S.K., Hee, T. H. Lin, Ying, & Morris, J.D. (2009). A comparison of the use of strategic thinking skills of aspiring school leaders in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai, and the United States: An exploratory study. International Journal of Educational Studies. 2(2), 48-58.

Zsiga, P. (2008). Leader effectiveness from self-directed learning and strategic thinking International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 2008 - Vol. 8, No.4 pp. 306 - 317

Pang, S. K. & Pisapia, J. (2007). The Strategic thinking capabilities of school leaders in Hong Kong. Presented at the Annual Conference of the American Education Research Association, Chicago, Il.

Pisapia, J., Reyes-Guerra, D. & Yasin, M. (2006) Strategic Thinking and Leader Success Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Conference on Advances in Management, Lisbon Portugal, July 19-22, 2006.

Pisapia, J., Reyes-Guerra, D., & Coukos-Semmel, E. (2005). Developing a Strategic Mindset: Constructing the Measures. Leadership Review, Spring 2005, Vol. 5, pp. 41-68 - cited in Scopus

Pisapia, J., Coukos-Semmel, E., and Reyes-Guerra, D. (2004). Assessing the cognitive processes of leaders: Do effective leaders think differently than less effective leaders? In A. Lazaridou (Ed.), Contemporary issues on educational administration and policy (Chapter 9, pp 147-170). Athens, Greece: Athens Institute for Education and Research. ISBN: 960-88331-2-4.

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