The Smartest People in the Room Usually Practice These 6 Skills

Strategic thinking is less a personality trait and more a trainable discipline

There is a comforting myth that strategic thinkers are just born that way, like they arrived from the factory with a better dashboard. Michael Watkins pushes back on that idea. In his Big Think interview, he makes the case that strategic thinking is partly natural ability, yes, but also something people can deliberately improve with practice. His message is practical: stop obsessing over your “endowment” and focus on getting better.

That matters because strategic thinking is not just executive wallpaper anymore. It is increasingly a career separator. Watkins argues that leaders are judged more and more on their ability to recognize change, set priorities, and mobilize others. In other words, the people who can think clearly in complexity tend to get handed bigger rooms, bigger budgets, and bigger problems.

So what does that kind of thinking actually look like in practice? Watkins breaks it into six disciplines. Not vague “be smarter” advice. Real mental habits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32z8Ax1j-Q4

1) Pattern recognition: Finding signal in the noise

The first discipline is pattern recognition, which Watkins describes as the ability to identify what matters inside a flood of information. Strategic thinkers are not just collecting facts. They are looking for connections, recurring shapes, and early clues that point to opportunity or risk.

Watkins uses chess as the mental model. A beginner sees pieces. A strong player sees structure, pressure points, and vulnerabilities. That is the difference. Strategic thinking starts when you stop staring at events one by one and start noticing the architecture underneath them.

In business, this might look like noticing that customer complaints, delayed deals, and rising support tickets are not separate annoyances. They are one pattern: your onboarding experience is breaking under growth.

2) Systems analysis: Seeing how the machine actually moves

Pattern recognition tells you what is happening. Systems analysis helps you understand why.

Watkins frames this as essential for navigating complexity. Leaders need models of the systems they operate in, even when those models are imperfect. He notes that no human, and not even computers, can fully capture every variable in a complex system. The goal is not perfect simulation. The goal is useful understanding.

His climate-model example is helpful here. Climate models are simplifications, but they still capture enough of the important dynamics to make sound predictions. Strategic leaders need the same mindset: build models that are directionally right and decision-useful, even if they are not mathematically complete.

3) Mental agility: Moving from rooftop view to street view

Watkins calls this “level shifting,” and shares a CEO’s phrase for it: “cloud-to-ground thinking.” It is the ability to move between high-level perspective and operational detail, fluidly and on purpose. Many leaders get trapped at one altitude.

Some live in the clouds, speaking in abstractions while their teams wrestle with the plumbing. Others live on the ground, deep in execution but unable to zoom out and see where the road is bending.

Strategic thinkers can do both. They can discuss market shifts, then pivot into the specific process bottleneck slowing the team down this quarter. They can talk vision at 10,000 feet and still notice the loose bolt at 10 feet.

That ability is not just intellectual. It builds trust. Teams are more likely to follow leaders who can see the horizon and understand the terrain.

4) Structured problem-solving: Solving the right problem before solving it well

Watkins emphasizes that structured problem-solving is a team discipline, not a solo genius act. It is about creating a rigorous process for framing and solving the most important problems an organization faces. The key word is “structured.”

Why? Because teams are often excellent at solving the wrong problem with great enthusiasm.

Watkins points out that the framing stage is crucial. If you frame the issue poorly, your options and conclusions will be skewed from the beginning. A good process helps teams define the real problem, test alternatives, and move toward solutions that are robust, not just convenient.

He also notes the stakeholder piece. In most meaningful decisions, multiple people have an interest in the outcome. A structured process helps move them toward alignment, even if they do not start on the same page. This is where strategy stops being a slide deck and starts becoming something people can actually execute.

5) Visioning: Painting a future people want to help build

Visioning, in Watkins’ framework, is about defining the future you want your organization to move toward and describing it in a way that makes people want to go there with you. It is not just forecasting. It is a compelling portrait of a shared future.

But Watkins adds an important tension: ambition versus achievability.

If a vision is too ambitious, people experience it as fantasy and disengage. If it is too achievable, it feels small and uninspiring. Strategic leaders manage that tension instead of swinging to one extreme.

This is one of the most underrated leadership skills. Plenty of organizations have goals. Fewer have a future story that is believable enough to organize effort and bold enough to energize people. A good vision is a bridge, not a poster.

6) Political savvy: Moving people step by step, not in one leap

Watkins closes with a point many leaders avoid until it bites them: politics is part of every human organization, and pretending otherwise does not make it disappear. Strategic thinking includes learning how to influence ethically and intelligently inside real power dynamics.

One tactic he describes is sequencing strategy, which is the order in which you communicate and build support. The idea is simple and effective: get key people on board in a thoughtful sequence so momentum builds and resistance is less likely to harden too early.

That is not manipulation. It is choreography. The strongest ideas can still fail if introduced in the wrong order, to the wrong people, in the wrong room. Political savvy helps leaders move change forward one conversation at a time.

What this means for people trying to grow at work

The real gift of Watkins’ framework is that it demystifies strategic thinking. It stops feeling like an executive aura and starts feeling like a training plan. If you want to become more strategic, you do not need to reinvent your personality.

You need to practice a set of disciplines:

• Notice patterns instead of chasing headlines

• Map systems instead of reacting to symptoms

• Shift levels instead of getting stuck at one altitude

• Use process instead of improvising every major decision

• Build a vision people can believe and work toward

• Navigate politics with intention instead of denial

That is how smart leadership looks in real life. Less lightning bolt, more craftsmanship. And that may be the most encouraging part of Watkins’ argument. Strategic thinking is not reserved for the chosen few in corner offices. It is a skill set. Which means it can be learned, sharpened, and used by anyone willing to do the reps.