Are You a Strategist?

How often are you given an assignment or a project and you tackle it the way you always have? No thought to ways that may be better or more impactful, just doing it the same way you always have. No thought to challenging the status quo. How often have you thought to stop and consider whether there is another way, a better way? Over the past few weeks, I've learned that I'm a great tacticion - I execute actions well. I have not been a great strategist - thinking strategically, implementing and evaluating regularly. 

A tactician is a person who uses a carefully planned strategy to achieve a specific end. A strategist is a person skilled in planning the action or policy to achieve a specific end. So a tactician does the work and a strategist determines how best to get it done. As I mentioned I'm a great tactician and I'm not a bad strategist when I take the time to actually plan instead of going right into the doing (Prov 21:5). And being one who gets things done is great - it's taken me far. A strategist can go so much further, because they are not doing the work themselves - they are making and writing plans so others can take up the mantle and join them in the effort (Hab 2:2). 

What is it you want to accomplish or that God is leading you to accomplish? Who do you need to take with you? What resources do you need to get there? What has worked in the past? What could be better? What could go wrong and how do you reduce those risks? These are just a few of the questions a strategist would ask, while the tactician is already working on doing what's been done for years. It may work, but could it have more impact? Could it be done faster? Could it be done cheaper? Could it be done better? 

I believe all of us want to leave our world a bit better than we found it. In order to do so, we need to have a plan that not only ourselves but those around us can follow. Little of what we do or have is about us. Our purpose is to point those around us to Christ. So He should be incorporated in everything we do. We have to be intentional and consider our strengths and weaknesses, as well as, external forces that may impact the outcome. We will face opposition and challenges, but what will we do about them? A good plan should account for most of those. Where do we go for help with plans? To the Lord, who has a plan for us (Jer 29:11). If we ask Him for wisdom, he will give it. He also tells us to seek wise counsel (Prov 12:15, 11:14, 15:22). We don't have all the answers and a good strategist knows that.  He/she is willing to listen to others to get to the best possible outcome. 

I don't know if you're a tactician or a strategist, but I encourage you to consider the latter. I'm working on it myself and while it may take a long time, I can't wait to see the harvest. Be blessed.