There are different views on strategy and strategic management, as the vast amount of literature on this topic shows. Whatever view one takes, there are no recipes for success. First of all this can be explained because strategy is only one of the activities in the total business process. There is however another aspect about strategy, which is often not very explicit. This is the balancing act that managers perform between rational reasoning and creative thinking.

Rational thinking and reasoning are essential in every business. But we also know that knowledge is limited as we cannot have all the information about a business and especially if it concerns the future where we try to create a successful strategy for. Creative thinking is therefore an important part of the strategy process. How this creative process works and how the creative reasoning is balanced with the rational reasoning is often dependent on the culture of a country, industry or company.

The balancing act of managers between rationality and creativity could be a topic that needs more attention in creating successful strategies. Why? Because balancing two different kinds of reasoning is a complex matter and cannot be done easily, without destroying passion or increasing unnecessary risk.

Norbert Bol