By 
“The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking,”
by Michael D. Watkins
Why do some executive teams consistently outthink—and outperform—their competitors? It’s not because they work harder. It’s because they dedicate focused time each week to strategic thinking—and they know how to do it well.
A critical trend I’m seeing across CEO teams I work with is this: they want to think more strategically, but they lack a shared understanding of what that means or how to do it consistently.
This book offers a practical, actionable framework to elevate the quality of strategic conversations and decision-making at the highest levels.
That’s why I’m recommending The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking by Michael D. Watkins to every CEO I coach—and to my broader leadership network.
The six disciplines are:
- Pattern Recognition – Identify growth opportunities through emerging trends and data patterns.
- Systems Analysis – See your business and industry as interconnected systems to find leverage points.
- Mental Agility – Shift perspectives to discover creative solutions and strategic angles.
- Structured Problem-Solving – View problems as opportunities by digging into root causes and long-term fixes.
- Visioning – Use the above tools to imagine and design compelling future scenarios.
- Political Savvy – Influence internal and external stakeholders to turn ideas into action.
To get started, I encourage you to watch this 7-minute executive summary by the author himself. If this resonates with you, I’d be happy to facilitate a discussion with your team or help integrate these practices into your leadership rhythm.
