A city struggles to ensure the lowest bid to repave downtown’s Main Street is the most
efficient use of tax dollars during a tight budget year. A state agency tries to verify that its type
and level of services delivered is what the citizens need and is consistent with current political
mandates. A federal department defends itself on the Hill for submitting an increased budget
request when many of the committee members are asking how the budget request is tied to the
department’s overall strategic mission. The struggle for organizational effectiveness in public
organizations is ongoing at all levels. The efforts to attach specific measurements to specific
objectives with a specific budget have proven to be very useful, inherently logical, and not nearly
enough.
The efforts of public administrators to control organizational activities are essential,
necessary, and aligned with current best practices (see Berry, 1994). But they ultimately prove
to be only part of the puzzle. Strategic planning has proven to be very useful but limited. It is a
technical fix that gets at only part of the question of organizational effectiveness and only deals
with some of the dilemmas organizations face.
In the face of such realities, the notion of strategic thinking emerges to fill the gaps and
overcome the limitations that experience with strategic planning has proven to exhibit. The goal
of strategic thinking is much the same goal of organizational leadership. While strategic
planning is upward focused, looking at ensuring how tactics link up to corporate goals and
strategies, strategic thinking is downward focused, looking to ensure that meaning and purpose
are diffused throughout the organization so that appropriate goals and tactics can be developed to
meet the real needs of the organization. Strategic planning in this sense is more linked to the
work of classical management, while strategic thinking is linked more to the work of leadership
(Shelton & Darling, 2001; Whitlock, 2003). This paper presents an integration of leadership
ideas, strategic thinking, and traditional planning activities in an effort to make important
connections and important distinctions.