AIRED: October 2, 2017– 11 am PST
SPECIAL GUEST: Dr. Julia Sloan
Article after article and leader after leader pleads and ploys for innovative global strategists – not as a mere means of survival, but to compete! So where are these strategists and who are they? Learning to Think Strategically hones in on just this very issue.
The absence of strategic thinkers is a resounding cry that is echoed around the globe by senior leaders in business, military and government. Yet Julia Sloan suggests that most leaders are entrapped in an outdated, industrial-age mindset when it comes to the approach they use for developing strategic thinkers—one that is devoid of an imaginative edge and clueless about how people learn to think strategically.
Sloan declares that, “Successful strategy is always past tense” and if organizations have more than a hope and a prayer of remaining competitive, it is necessary that leaders understand the underlying learning process that supports strategic thinking in order to develop innovative winning strategic thinkers.
This is the first book to exclusively address how successful strategists learn to think strategically. It presents a previously unexamined account of the relationship between strategic thinking and the learning process involved. Learning to Think Strategically is based on research that draws upon real-life lessons learned by global business strategists and the application of those lessons for corporate, government, military leaders and academics.
Conceptualized within a learning theory framework, this book explores a definite tension between organizational strategy needs and the cognitive process required for learning strategic thinking in contrast to that required for strategic planning.
ABOUT DR. JULIA SLOAN
Dr. Julia Sloan is a leading authority on the cognitive aspect of strategic thinking and is widely recognized for her pioneering work on the application of complex cognitive theory to everyday strategic thinking practice in global business and public policy. Her strategic thinking work draws upon more than two decades of her own expatriate corporate experience in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, working on strategy to align the business agenda with prevailing economic, cultural and social issues.
She is the author of the definitive book, Learning to Think Strategically, and has also written numerous privately commissioned articles and white papers on the topic of strategic thinking for corporations, policy institutes and think tanks.
Julia teaches strategic thinking at Columbia University and has lectured at some of the premier academic institutions. Awarded a Researcher in Residence fellowship for 2016-2017 for the study of the cognitive and conceptual role of metaphor on the development of strategic thinking, Julia has been the recipient of the Faculty Excellence Award, Ahead-of-the-Curve Teaching Award, Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Innovative Influencer Award. She has served on several college and non-profit advisory boards.
A resident of New York City, Julia’s educational background includes a doctorate from Columbia University; master’s studies at Yale University and University of Alaska; and undergraduate studies from Kent State University.
