--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Having a strategy suggests an ability to…" description: "\"“Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the short term and the trivial to view the long term and the essential, to address causes rather..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg" --- # Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the… ![“Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the short term and the trivial to view the long term and the essential, to address causes rather than symptoms, to see woods rather than trees.” quote by Lawrence Freedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg) > ““Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the short term and the trivial to view the long term and the essential, to address causes rather than symptoms, to see woods rather than trees.”” [Lawrence Freedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-freedman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Long‑term planning requires seeing root causes, not just immediate symptoms, and focusing on essential over the trivial. **In simple terms:** Focus on big picture, not details. Key Takeaway Prioritize causes over symptoms. Themes strategy long term systems thinking cause and effect vision Mood reflective analytical forward‑looking Type Long term:1 Strategy:1 Trees:0 Ability Look:0 Having Strategy:0 Strategy Suggests:0 Suggests Ability:0 When to use this quote - business planning - policy development - personal goal setting - organizational change - public health initiatives Key Concepts systems analysis strategic foresight root cause analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can you shift focus from symptoms to causes? - What essential elements are you overlooking? A Different Perspective Short‑term pressures can obscure deeper causes, leading to reactive decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-look-375162/) [Having Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-strategy-2562121/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [Strategy Suggests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy-suggests-4887084/) [Suggests Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggests-ability-4887085/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [People sometimes talk about me as being a brand, having a strategy and whatever else. I wish. Seriously. I wish I had it together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/people-sometimes-talk-about-me-as-being-a-brand-having-a-strategy-and/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [We've seen that playing as a team, having a strategy and playing with strength make a huge difference on the pitch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquinhos/we-ve-seen-that-playing-as-a-team-having-a-strategy-and-playing-with/) [Marquinhos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquinhos/) > [For any writer, the ability to look at a sentence and see what's superfluous, what can be altered, revised, expanded, and, especially, cut, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/for-any-writer-the-ability-to-look-at-a-sentence-and-see-what-s/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“There's something else there as well, something entirely her own. An ability to look into the confusing mess of life and see things for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/there-s-something-else-there-as-well-something-entirely-her-own-an/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [ I think one of the things that I took from Mel \[Bochner\] specifically was his ability to look at oneself and one's relationship to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-one-of-the-things-that-i-took-from-mel-bochner-specifically/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I don't have any magical ability. I look at a problem, play with it, work out a strategy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/i-don-t-have-any-magical-ability-i-look-at-a-problem-play-with-it/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [As an illustrator you need to understand the human body - but having looked at and understood nature, you must develop an ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-blake/as-an-illustrator-you-need-to-understand-the-human-body-but-having/) [Quentin Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-blake/) > [To perceive the aura of an object we look at means to invest it with the ability to look at us in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/to-perceive-the-aura-of-an-object-we-look-at-means-to-invest-it-with/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [What makes a person is the ability to look at themselves and deal with their own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-campbell/what-makes-a-person-is-the-ability-to-look-at-themselves-and-deal/) [Naomi Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-campbell/) > [An ability to look into the confusing mess of life and see things for what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/an-ability-to-look-into-the-confusing-mess-of-life-and-see-things-for/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [I'm kind of a builder of institutions. 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But I also know that, with time, I'm beginning to fight issues of aging as well as long-term paralysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/i-am-optimistic-but-i-also-know-that-with-time-i-m-beginning-to-fight/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) [Browse all 2,065 Long term quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the short term and the trivial to view the long term and the essential, to address causes rather than symptoms, to see woods rather than trees.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lawrence Freedman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-freedman/having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to-look-up-from-the-short-term/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Long term" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-freedman/having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to-look-up-from-the-short-term/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/lawrence-freedman-255706_long-term_having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to_3020449.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Having a strategy suggests an ability to look up from the short term and the trivial to view the long term…” — Lawrence Freedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lawrence Freedman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-freedman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Having a strategy suggests an ability...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-freedman/having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to-look-up-from-the-short-term/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-freedman/having-a-strategy-suggests-an-ability-to-look-up-from-the-short-term/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```