25 helpful strategic questions to make a good decision
As an (executive) professional, you regularly find yourself in a position where you decide (often with far-reaching consequences) about serious investments of time, resources and professionals. Often you do so in competition with other important issues and you’re never sure …. So what strategic questions can you ask to make a good decision.
Some composure and a strategic way of approach is desirable for you. You need a way to properly identify the opportunities and threats of the decision. If you know how to ask the right (strategic) questions you are better able to identify options, clarify goals and ultimately make the best decision possible at the time.
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What are strategic questions?
Actually, as a professional, you should be somewhat addicted to asking strategic questions. It’s the kind of questions that invite you to stand atop a lighthouse, so to speak, allowing you to see more of the horizon. You can ask these kinds of questions both to yourself and to others and it leads to you being better able to formulate goals, develop (decision) criteria or to visualize risks.
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> Schedule your free call nowImportance of zooming out
Strategic questions force you to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. These types of questions involve the process of strategic thinking. With things like long-term goals, framing the interests at hand and identifying priorities. When you become adept at asking strategic questions, you see better the possible alternatives, consequences and downsides of your decision. A better idea of the big picture and its coherence emerges, and it clarifies what is needed to achieve the goal.
What are the strategic questions?
A. Long-term questions
In this type of questioning, you consider the long term and consistency. Strategy and strategic thinking has at its core the ability to oversee what impact your decision will have on tomorrow. These are good questions for this:
- What are you trying to get done?
- What difference will it make?
- How will this help our mission?
- What is at stake?
- What is the strategic, long-term goal of this?
- What is your strategic vision for this?
B. Questions about investments and possible consequences
- How do you want to achieve your goal?
- What exactly is involved here
- What will it cost?
- What are the potential drawbacks?
- What are the consequences if this fails?
- What are possible effects on our position as a company as a whole?
- How does this plan fit into our strategic goals?
C. On trade-offs to be made
Every decision involves trade-offs. The important decision to be made always has advantages and disadvantages. For example, you can make more money with a certain strategy but it has (partly) the consequence that people will be laid off.
- What considerations go into this decision that you haven’t yet shared with me?
- Bottomline: who are the winners and losers here?
- Where can this decision discredit our company?
These types of questions are mainly intended to discuss and break down processes such as group-think, stubbornness and prejudices. Perhaps one might consider these types of questions “game-changers. However, they are necessary because the answer may result in the disadvantages of the decision to be made being too great or too extreme. You might be better off sending the decision back to the drawing board at this point.
D. Questions about alternatives
With this type of questions, you explore the possible alternatives. You yourself keep the strategic goals in mind.
- Is there any other way?
- What other options lead to the same outcome?
- What alternatives can reduce costs?
- What alternatives increase the likelihood of success?
- What options do you have to mitigate the disadvantages/risks?
E. Questions about success and outcome
These types of questions ensure that you get clear answers that provide direction and a perspective. As the questioner, you need to make sure that the answers are clear, well understood by everyone and supported.
- What do you think success looks like?
- How do you want to establish that
- How much time do you need for that?
- Suppose you say, “It’s a success. What could you tell that from?
Why you should listen carefully
You can ask questions all you want, but if you don’t listen it won’t be anything and you’re wasting everyone’s time. With good and active listening, you can hear between the lines what unexpected obstacles or unanticipated risks are. By listening well you are better able to:
- See through scenarios that require extra attention.
- In a majority decision, still consider the ideas of those who opposed.
- Put aside opinions or ideas that are meant to speak to your mouth.
- Detect signals that people do not yet fully understand the purpose.
- Discover opportunities you hadn’t thought of yourself before.
Also, turn it around.
It’s obviously cool to get colleagues excited about your golden strategic idea. Bring them into your story and tell them how you came up with the idea and what the thinking behind it is. Then ask your colleagues to challenge you without restraint. Ask what the pros and cons are, what opportunities they see and what the risks are. Answer these questions with more questions to get to the heart of the story.
Tip: speak yourself up to 30% of the time and let others speak 70% of the time. You will then have time to listen carefully and make proper consideration.
Are you that strategic questioner?
Then you are more capable than anyone else of shaping the future, recognizing risks and responding to trends important to your organization. Seems like a fine competency as a manager.
Free introductory call,
Run into a lack of assertiveness or self-confidence?
Want to get rid of that, once and for all? Then my 1-on-1 coach approach is really something for you. Lets get acquainted first, no strings attached. See if we have a 'click' and if I can help you.
> Schedule your free call now
