The Helicopter View and Strategic Thinking 1

by Dr. Farid A. Muna

January 2010

It all co mes do wn to the ability to go up and do wn the ladder o f abstractio n, and being able to see the big picture and the o peratio nal implicatio ns, which are signs o f o utstanding
leaders and strategists.
Loizos Heracleous
Systems thinking is a discipline fo r seeing who les. It is a framewo rk fo r seeing interrelatio nships rather than things, fo r seeing patterns o f change rather than static snapsho ts.
Peter Senge
One o f the key co mpetencies required fo r strategic thinking, I believe, is systems thinking and the helico pter view. Systems thinking views a pro blem o r an o ppo rtunity as a part o f an
o verall situatio n o r system. Therefo re, the best way to understand a pro blem is to appreciate its place in relatio n to the who le, viewing things with a histo rical perspective that takes
into acco unt events in the past, present, and po tential future (see Peter Senge’s quo tatio n which appears abo ve).

In this sho rt article, I shall use the helico pter metapho r to simplify and capture the essence o f the so metimes o verwhelming co ncepts o f systems thinking which, by the way, are
co ncepts that date back to Descartes and Newto n. The co ncept o f the helico pter view started with Ro yal Dutch Shell Co mpany last century, when the co mpany fo und it to be the
co mmo n co mpetency amo ng its mo st successful executives. It is no w used as an essential leadership co mpetency in perfo rmance management co ntexts, and is referred to by
vario us o ther names such as “peripheral visio n” o r “breadth o f visio n” o r “po wer o f anticipatio n” o r “clarity o f purpo se”. The helico pter view refers to the ability to rise abo ve the
specifics o f a particular situatio n and to see it in its o verall co ntext and enviro nment. It is the ability no t o nly to see the fo rest fo r the trees, but it also the ability to see the big picture
witho ut lo sing sight o f the details and their implicatio ns; that, I believe, is a sign o f o utstanding leaders and strategists.

In o ur strategic thinking (and creative pro blem so lving) seminars we at Meirc enco urage participants to use the helico pter view. The simplicity and effectiveness o f the co ncept
appeals to many peo ple, and it is also memo rable. Develo ping the helico pter view requires co nstant practice – it a disciplined way o f lo o king at strategy and crises. There are three
steps that o ne must practice until it beco me seco nd nature.

First, distance yo urself mentally fro m the current situatio n; it is similar to “zo o ming o ut” when lo o king thro ugh a camera o r when lo o king at a large wall map o r a painting – o ne has
to step back to see the who le thing. Yo u sho uld no t be surprised if yo u see mo re than o ne pro blem o r crisis: so me pro blems will be urgent and sho rt-term; o thers may be critical and
lo ng-term.

Seco nd, describe the present situatio n as tho ugh yo u are lo o king at it five o r ten years fro m no w (mo re o n this step belo w). Then ask “what will yo u do , if such and such happens?”
Vario us scenario s fo r the future are then articulated, and strategies drawn aro und these scenario s.

Third, use the helico pter repeatedly thro ugho ut the strategy fo rmulatio n pro cess to ensure that yo u are still o n the right co urse, making sure that yo u “zo o m in” and “zo o m o ut” fro m
time to time in o rder to stay o n the right path witho ut lo o sing sight o f the details.

Seeing the big picture, tho ugh, is no t eno ugh if the histo ric and futuristic perspectives are missing. After explaining ho w to use the helico pter view to executives attending o ur strategic
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thinking seminar, we enco urage them to start applying it in their strategy fo rmulatio n by first lo o king at the wo rld, their industry, their co mpanies, their co mpetitio n, and their po tential
custo mers in five, ten, and fifteen years fro m no w. To illustrate this po int, let me quo te at length fro m my previo us bo o k, Seven Metaphors on Management , in which “The Helico pter” is
the title o f o ne o f the chapters (Muna 20 0 3):

“In o ur strategic thinking seminars, we start by asking managers to write their current age, as well as their age ten years fro m no w (it always seems easier to get them thinking o f the
future when it is perso nalized). Then we ask them to describe their business as o f the seco nd date, “What will yo ur industry lo o k like in ten years? What abo ut yo ur co mpetito rs?
What abo ut changes in go vernmental legislatio n, po litics, demo graphy, techno lo gy?’ and so o n. The next step is to ask them, ‘What will yo u do , if such changes happen?’ Alternative
scenario s fo r the future are then articulated, and strategies drawn aro und them.
These scenario s are designed to enco urage managers to co ntinuo usly questio n their assumptio ns and reo rganize their mental maps o f the real wo rld. Mo re impo rtantly, it
enco urages managers to co ntinue to learn as they make decisio ns abo ut the future.” “… o nce the present and the future are put in perspective, we can fo cus o n the future directio n,
using the helico pter repeatedly to ensure that we are staying o n the right path. Having iso lated the mo st impo rtant/urgent prio rity pro blems, the helico pter descends fo r a clo ser lo o k
at the details.”

The helico pter view is a po werful to o l that co uld and sho uld be used at any stage during strategy fo rmulatio n. Go ing up and do wn in the “mental” helico pter ensures that strategists
stay o n the right co urse and prevents them fro m fo cusing to o clo sely o n the trees, o r the details. Using the helico pter view will allo w us to see the vario us parts o f the pro verbial
elephant. Using this to o l we can also lo o k at the wo rld and vario us glo bal markets when fo rmulating glo bal strategies. Perso nally, whenever I fly fro m o ne co ntinent to ano ther, I
so metimes experience a perso nal insight o r get new business ideas as I lo o k do wn at the wo rld fro m 36 ,0 0 0 feet.

The co ncept o f the helico pter view was sho wn to be critical to the understanding o f the insight pro cess and the “Aha!” experience. An article by Lehrer (20 0 8 ), titled “The Eureka
Hunt”, attempts to answer the questio n “Why do go o d ideas co me to us when they do ?” Lehrer reviewed recent research findings by so me co gnitive neuro scientists and
psycho lo gists who are still lo o king at what happens in the brain when peo ple go thro ugh the mysterio us insight pro cess. Mo re specifically, these scientists are interested in finding
o ut the ro les o f the right and left hemispheres (and o ther parts o f the co rtex) when so lving puzzles and pro blems. Acco rding to the neuro scientists, Ko unio s et al. (20 0 8 ), who se
research Lehrer discussed, there are two strategies fo r so lving pro blems: o ne is metho dical, co nscio us, and analytical—using the left hemisphere o f the brain, and the o ther is by
sudden insight—a specialized ro le fo r the right hemisphere. The mo re creative right hemisphere subco nscio usly lo o ks fo r ho listic co nnectio ns and helps peo ple see the big picture
(the fo rest) while the left hemisphere specializes in analysis and the details (the trees). It seems also that analytic and insight pro cessing can o ccur in parallel; the brain needs to see
bo th the fo rest and the trees at the same time, so mewhat akin to the helico pter view.

Additio nally, the article highlighted research co nducted by the psycho lo gist Scho o ler. Lehrer wro te: “Jo nathan Scho o ler has recently demo nstrated that making peo ple fo cus o n the
details o f a visual scene, as o ppo sed to the big picture, can significantly disrupt the insight pro cess. ‘It do esn’t take much to shift the brain into left-hemisphere mo de,’ he said. ‘That’s
when yo u sto p paying attentio n to tho se mo re ho listic asso ciatio ns co ming in fro m the right hemisphere.’”

In a classic bo o k titled The Mind o f the Strategist, Ohmae (19 8 2) came to similar co nclusio ns when he co ntrasted so me o f the characteristics o f strategic visio n with traditio nal
strategic planning. Effective strategy requires:
A bro ader view, instead o f tunnel visio n
Strategic and creative thinking, instead o f inflexible thinking
Keeping details in perspective, instead o f the time-co nsuming o bsessio n with details, o r the o ften referred to “paralysis by analysis”.

Once again, we see that the helico pter view is in line with past and current thinking o n strategy. The main advantages o f the helico pter view are that it is easy to grasp, use, and
remember, and that it invo kes the visual senses, which in turn facilitates creative and strategic thinking.
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Re f e re nce s

Ko unio s, J., Fleck, J., Green, D., Payne, L., Stevenso n, J., Bo wden, E., and Jung-Beeman, M. (20 0 8 ), “The Origins o f Insight in Resting-State Brain Activity”, Neuropsychologia, Vo l. 46 ,
No . 1, pp. 28 1-9 1.

Lehrer, J. (20 0 8 ), “The Eureka Hunt”, The New Yorker , July 28 , 20 0 8 , pp. 40 -5.

Muna, F. (20 0 3), Seven Metaphors on Management: Tools for Managers in the Arab World , Go wer Publishing.

Ohmae, K. (19 8 2), The Mind of the Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business , McGraw-Hill.

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