Cognitive Aids in Strategy

In our new edited book in the New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition series (Emerald), we reflect on cognitive aids and their role in strategy work. Strategy research and practice abounds with frameworks, models, tools, and processes, meant to describe and guide the strategy work of managers. These are all examples of cognitive aids. These aids guide and support managerial cognition, the way managers make sense of the world. What we collectively call the cognitive aids of strategy have a profound impact
on the way managers learn about, conceptualize, share, and enact strategy work and strategies in their organizations. In this chapter, we provide a definition of cognitive aids in strategy and begin exploring the landscape of cognitive theories that can explain why something might be a cognitive aid. We then briefly outline the contributions to the edited volume “Cognitive Aids in Strategy,” and end with an invitation to expand your exploration beyond.