If strategy is so important, why don't we make time for it?

Almost all leaders want to make more time for strategic thinking. In a survey of 10,000 senior leaders, 97% said that being strategic was the most important leadership behaviour for the success of their organisation*.

Yet in another survey, 96% of the leaders questioned said they lacked time for strategic thinking*. We are all oppressed by meetings and overwhelmed by emails (126 per day on average, according to an analysis by the Radicati Group), but how can we explain such a gap between stated goals and actions?

One of the problems lies in the patterns put in place, even unconsciously, by companies. There is often a cultural pressure to work long hours. Research has shown that employees who work more than 50 hours a week earn 6% more than their other colleagues. Being 'glued' to your desk may help you deal with more emails or operational tasks, but it's rarely a recipe for innovative strategic thinking. It has even been proven that employee productivity decreases as soon as they work more than 50 hours a week. According to a study by Stanford University, what seems to stimulate creative thinking are activities such as a short walk, especially outdoors. But this behaviour is not yet accepted in all companies.

Another obstacle to strategic thinking may be internal. Research shows that, in the US at least, activity is a sign of social status. As Silvia Bellezza of Columbia Business School explains, "by telling others that we are busy and working all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we are indispensable". So, in addition to the very real demands on our time, there is also an incentive to indulge in frenetic activity: it's a marker of our professional success.

Given these pressures, which drive us towards business and away from strategic thinking, Dorie Clark, in her book "The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World (HBR Press, 2021)" shares three ways to create space for strategy.

First, it's important to remember that strategic thinking doesn't necessarily require a lot of time. Having an idea doesn't take time; it takes psychological space.

It's much easier to start strategic thinking if you can prepare the ground by doing simple things like writing down all your outstanding tasks to clear your mind.

Secondly, it helps to be clear about how you use your time. You may well be able to combine, defer or outsource certain tasks to save a few hours a week, to get away from the daily hustle and bustle and focus on strategic thinking.

Finally, by changing the way we think about busyness - from a status marker to a mark of servitude - it can become easier to say no to the endless parade of every day obligations.

By becoming aware of the disincentives to spending time on strategy and taking action, you can achieve a goal that you, and 97% of other leaders, recognise as essential.

*Harvard Business Review