Although companies find it difficult to change strategy for many reasons, one stands out: strategic thinking is not a core managerial competence at most companies. Executives hone their management capabilities by tackling problems over and over again. Changing strategy, however, is not usually a task that managers face repeatedly. Once companies have found a strategy that works, they want to use it, not change it. Consequently, most management teams do not develop a competence in strategic thinking. In fact, they are unable even to see the need to change direction when the strategy that made the company great has become obsolete.