How to Think Strategically with Michael D Watkins

The Evolving Leader

In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Arjun Sahdev are joined by Michael D Watkins. Michael is a globally recognized leadership transitions expert, he is professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD in Switzerland and he has written 12 books including the best-selling book “The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter” and his most recent book “The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking” in which he explores how executives can learn to think strategically and lead their organizations into the future. Michael is a Thinkers 50-ranked management influencer and recognized expert in his field, his work features in HBR Guides and HBR’s 10 Must Reads on leadership, teams, strategic initiatives, and new managers. Over the past 20 years, he has used his First 90 Days methodology to help leaders make successful transitions, both in his teaching at IMD, INSEAD, and Harvard Business School.

Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:
Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)

The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)
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The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.

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Κεφάλαια

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. It’s been 21 years since The First 90 Days was published. What problem did the book solve that made is so successful? (00:04:46)

3. Many leaders are finding their roles are changing, so finding themselves with a raft of unacknowledged new challenges. What do you see is happening in the world at the moment, and how do you look at that kind of transition? (00:06:26)

4. You talk about two major challenges facing leaders in transition. Could you give us some insight as to how those two dimensions can work together in a constructive symbiotic way? (00:07:44)

5. Could you also touch on the authenticity piece? (00:11:20)

6. One of those difficult situations is when you’re promoted, and the reality is you’re leaving your peer group and going on to lead them. How do you deal with that experience? (00:13:41)

7. Where do you see this going wrong? (00:16:33)

8. You talked about retooling yourself, and part of that mix is wellbeing. How do you think about that, particularly in a transition where it involves uprooting to a new city? (00:19:22)

9. You advocate future back thinking. Can you talk about how you’ve helped your clients envisage the future? (00:24:08)

10. I love the question ‘what will be possible?’. Given the backdrop of hyper-speed developments in AI, how are the answers to that question changing? (00:27:45)

11. What does Arjun think? (00:31:58)

12. Energy, situational understanding, decision making, forming and enriching relationships etc. It’s those sources of human value creation that are going to be the things to focus in on if you want to manage your career forward. (00:35:25)

13. Moving on to talk about your latest book. What is your definition of strategic thinking? (00:40:21)

14. You question whether strategic thinkers are born or made. Can you unpack that for us? (00:47:26)

15. The first of the six disciplines is pattern recognition. How do smart executives avoid the intelligence traps? How do you help them see more clearly what’s really going on? (00:53:33)

16. Moving to systems analysis, what advice can you give to help maintain a more holistic understanding of a corporate system given its inevitable complexity? (00:57:14)

17. The third discipline you talk about is mental agility and how level shifting can help you to think more strategically. Can we talk about that? (01:01:13)

18. If we acknowledge that in life we should be looking n moves ahead, wow do you train people to have the discipline and motivation to keep thinking like that? (01:03:54)

19. The beauty of thinking about the consequences helps you to break down and create a methodical approach to tackling challenges. When it comes to structured problem solving, how do you think about combining creativity and pragmatism? (01:07:10)

20. Where can people find out more about frame storming and redefining the problem? (01:08:53)

21. The act of visioning (our next discipline) is perhaps the most challenging tasks for executives. Can you walk us through the motivational drivers for constructing that compelling vision? (01:09:28)

22. Returning to your earlier thought regarding the political skill and savviness of leaders being super important. How do you think leaders should overlay and think about this in the context of strategy and strategic thought? (01:13:14)

23. What’s next for you? (01:16:06)