Strategic Thinking for Everyone Specialization

Information is key to every decision and every strategic move you make. But ensuring you have the right information takes work. Don’t look in every direction for an answer, and don’t force the solution you’re looking for. Instead, you can use a hypothesis and test it with data until the data fits the situation you’re looking at.

With the expertise of Dr. Timiebi Aganaba from the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society, the Information Gathering and Vetting course will put the tools, knowledge and strategies for high-quality research directly into your hands. You’ll learn the fundamentals and get acquainted with your research toolkit. Then, you’ll directly apply them in hands-on scenarios. Data collection is not about using every source you come across. It’s about finding relevant information after testing multiple points of view — in other words, vetting your information. You will need to test data against your assumptions and dig for the insights you can share — skills that anyone can learn and apply anywhere. Jump-start your research journey today!

You can plan what you want to accomplish, but other people will always be a factor. Planning for the actions of others can’t be taken lightly. You need to understand what people want, but you also need to have your influence on the conversation. Ultimately, you can use this knowledge to plan for each scenario.

With the expertise of Dr. Timiebi Aganaba from the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society, the Perspective-Taking course will put the tools, knowledge and strategies of strategic conversation directly into your hands. You’ll learn the fundamentals and get acquainted with your influencing toolkit. Then, you’ll directly apply them in hands-on scenarios. Perspective-taking has much to do with hearing people out to understand what motivates them. When you understand this, you can start to recognize the logic they use in their own actions. As you recognize and model your strategies according to your own goals, you can also establish influence in conversations. By doing all this, you learn to understand the other party, determine what their strategy is and approach them with what you want in a clear way — all skills that anyone can learn and apply anywhere. Jump-start your perspective-taking journey today!

Planning will get you far, but only if you know what you’re planning for. To think strategically, you need to analyze insights and evaluate possible scenarios before building that strategy. It’s possible to eliminate some uncertainties and identify trends, but you need the right process. You’ll have to gain insights first, and then take a long look at what you have. With all the right information, you can start to make informed decisions about your next steps.

With the expertise of Dr. Timiebi Aganaba from the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society, the Strategic Thinking course will put the tools, knowledge and strategies to develop strategies directly into your hands. You’ll learn the fundamentals and get acquainted with your strategic toolkit. Then, you’ll directly apply them in hands-on scenarios. Strategic thinking involves more than just coming up with a plan: You need to analyze the world around you. The trends and uncertainties that influence your situation will help you come to a decision and plan for scenarios ahead of time — skills that anyone can learn and apply anywhere. Take the next step of your strategic thinking journey today!