When you’re planning – whether it’s for business or pleasure – you’ll realise that the key to success isn’t just in the strategy itself, but rather the considerations that go into continually shaping your strategy.

Take planning for the sake of planning, which can become disastrous. The Harvard Business Review examines four flaws in the planning process that could happen if we’re not careful.

The true power of a robust and well-thought-out plan, as we will see, comes from combining both critical thinking and analytical skills.

What They Are

According to Business Processes Inc., analytical skills help you understand the current reality, giving you a perspective of your surroundings. Critical thinking skills are the keys to gaining clarity while thoroughly assessing and verifying the various aspects of those perspectives.

When applied, analytical skills and critical thinking come down to a method of inquiry that you carry out with yourself (and if you are working in a team, your team mates) that helps frame and focus your efforts, as Litemind advises.

Various Methods of Inquiry to Choose From

There are a number of tried-and-true methods of inquiry which are easy to pick up and use. Litemind offers the SCAMPER method which stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Magnify, Put to Other Uses, Eliminate (or Minify) and Rearrange (or Reverse). There is also the popular SWOT analysis used by leading industry professionals, which looks at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

The PEST model – which considers political, economical, social, and technological aspects – is a good framework to use alongside the other methods of inquiry to ensure you’re both analysing and critically assessing your plan.

Used alone or in combination, these methods of inquiry will allow you to consider dimensions you might not have previously included in your plans. Think of it as borrowing the mind of a genius planner – and you’ll be surprised by how much better your plans are for it.

Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills

Apart from methods of inquiry, there are activities that help you develop a sharper mind. LifeDev says that reading improves your ability to analyse, as a result of being able to spot patterns more readily. The Harvard Business Review suggests taking time away from tactical-level tasks (i.e. the mundane and present-looking tasks) and starting to cast your plans into the future (i.e. strategic thinking).

“Plans are nothing, planning is everything”

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s now famous comment captures for us what makes our plans work: It is the continual assessment and evaluation of our strategy, as well as the willingness to change it for the better, that determines our success.

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