The Opposite of the Strategic Mindset is not Tactical
All week I have been writing about the strategic mindset. The strategic mindset is essentially a mindset that allows one to identify the levers of performance improvement. What’s more, those with the strategic mindset can see the why behind those levers as well as use that why to recognize and overcome flaws in performance.
Many assume the opposite of strategic is tactical, which may make sense in specific scenarios. However, when it comes to mindset, the opposite is not necessarily tactical at all. The opposite of the strategic mindset is simply the absence of the strategic mindset.
To illustrate this, I will use one of the characteristics to identify someone with a strategic mindset in the recent study on this topic. People with a strategic mindset track and measure how effective an approach is when pursuing a goal. So, the opposite of this would be someone who does not track and measure their approach to pursuing a goal. This does not mean the person is tactical, as being tactical is a skill. Someone who chooses not to track and measure their approach may lack both strategy and tactics.
As a result, the only true opposite of strategy is lacking strategy and the only true opposite to the strategic mindset is the absence of that mindset.