How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life pdfdrive com

7. Keep Repeating the Process
My friend Olan Hendrix remarked, “Strategic thinking is like showering, you
have to keep doing it.” If you expect to solve any major problem once, you’re in
for disappointment. Little things can be won easily through systems and personal
discipline. But major issues need major strategic thinking time. What Thane Yost
said is really true: “The will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to
prepare.” If you want to be an effective strategic thinker, then you need to
become a continuous strategic thinker.
As I was working on this chapter, I came across an article in my local
paper on the celebration of the Jewish Passover and how millions of
American Jews read the order of service for their Seder, or Passover meal,
from a small booklet produced by Maxwell House Coffee. For more than
seventy years, the coffee company has produced the booklet, called a
Haggada, and during those years it has distributed more than 40 million
copies of it.
“I remember using them all my life,” said Regina Witt, who is in her fifties.
So does her mother, who is almost ninety. “It’s our tradition. I think it would be
very strange not to use them.” 
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So how did Maxwell House come to supply the booklets? It was the result of
strategic thinking. Eighty years ago, marketing man Joseph Jacobs advised that
the company could sell coffee during Passover if the product were certified
Kosher by a rabbi. (Since 1923, Maxwell House coffee has been certified Kosher
for Passover.) And then Jacobs suggested that if they gave away the Haggada
booklets, they could increase sales. 
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They’ve been creating the booklets—and
selling coffee during Passover—ever since. That’s what can happen when you
unleash the power of strategic thinking.
Thinking Question
Am I implementing strategic plans that give me direction for today and