‘So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.’ Ephesians 5:15–16 NLT
Strategic thinking helps you to plan, to become more efficient, to maximise your strengths, and to find the most direct path towards achieving your God-given assignment in life. The benefits of strategic thinking are numerous. Here are a few of them:
(1) Strategic thinking simplifies the difficult. It takes complex issues and long-term objectives that can be very difficult to address, and breaks them down into manageable-sized bits. Anything becomes simpler when you have a plan! The Bible says, ‘The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.’ (Proverbs 21:5 NIV)
(2) Strategic thinking helps you to ask the right questions. Take a look at the following questions developed by Bobb Biehl, author of Masterplanning. ‘Direction: What should we do next? Why? Organisation: Who is responsible for what? Who is responsible for whom? Do we have the right people in the right places? Cash: What is our projected income, expense, net? Can we afford it? How can we afford it? Tracking: Are we on target? Overall evaluation: Are we achieving the quality we expect and demand of ourselves? Refinement: How can we be more effective and more efficient?’
These may not be the only questions you need to ask in order to begin formulating a strategic plan, but they are a good first step. Until you take the first step, you’ll remain stuck. Until you get over your need to do it perfectly, you won’t do it at all. You ask, ‘When should I start?’ Today!
SoulFood: 2 Kings 5:1–27, Matt 6:19–34, Acts 5:1–11
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©