Whatever you are, you have an Identity. Maybe it is not cast in steel or set in stone (yet). Make sure to document it. Only what is written down somewhere counts.
Whatever you do has an objective. It should have a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). You may want to check the concept of the OKR (Objectives and Key Results). Or read the Beginners Guide to OKRs.
If you have an Objective (or a set of objectives), the next thing you need is document your current situation. Probably you are running a business, so you have a portfolio. It may not be documented in detail, but you have one. Document it. Use a business model canvas.
Now imagine a time leap. 3-5 years from now. How will your business look like. Make a guess. Document the guess with a business model canvas. You are puzzled how to get to the future business model? Design thinking may be your tool. A very intuitive method is the double diamond. When you know where you will be in future, you know exactly what you need to do to get there.
Sounds easy? Yes. Too easy, because it is only centered around yourself. Bad news is you are not alone in the universe. There are others trying to spoil your game. Find out where you are in relation to all others. Maybe the most important ones are enough. Which ones are these? Nobody knows and you will miss one or the other. Make a judgment.
Now you have information about your position and the position of some others. Put this in relation and you have knowledge about your current situation. We call this situational awareness. In the wikipedia article on situational awareness you can learn how old the idea actually is. If Sun Zi were a business man today…
Once you know where you are, i.e. you have situational awareness, you can generate an understanding of your situation. Once you have an understanding, you can make predictions for future based on you model of the world. This is building a strategy from situational awareness, a.k.a. Wardley mapping.
Confused and dizzy? No problem. A more structured entrance through our Story Line.