Want something? Then stop trying to get it.

All of us here have one thing in common: We’re trying to get things. Perhaps we’re trying to get more customers. Or a new listing. Or a better relationship. Or spiritual enlightenment. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter.  Because the way of getting something – anything – is always the same: Be the sort of business […]

You have a responsibility to be interesting

Let me let you in on a secret. It’s not something they’ll teach you in business school. Or in strategy books. Or on branding courses. In fact to be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard it explicitly referenced anywhere at all – although the hints of it aren’t hard to find: If you […]

Why the secret of climbing higher is aiming lower

You know who gives terrible advice? Really successful people. Billionaires, celebrities, top ranking athletes.  You know, the very people whose advice we most seek.  The people whose advice is, supposedly, the most valuable. I’ll get on to why this is, but first I want to outline why it’s important. Human beings are copying creatures.  We spend all […]

Strategy is a mess – here’s how you tidy it up

One of the main reasons strategy is needlessly confusing, is because the word itself is used to describe multiple different “things”. Although when we use the term here we are typically talking about “business strategy” (the responsibility of founders and CEOs), it is often used to mean other forms of strategy which are deceptively similar, but differ […]

Availability cascades: who decides what’s important, and what isn’t?

Here we are with part 8 of my cultural context series, where we explore some of the macro forces that guide the world within which we live and strategise. You can find parts 1-7 here, with the most recent first: ChatGPT, The Amish, and the friction deficit The crushing tedium of excellence The schizophrenia machine: how brands remake our identities […]

Don’t answer a need, create it

When all is said and done, there are only two methods of attracting customers. One of these is obvious, and everyone knows it. The other is secret, and almost nobody knows it. The obvious one represents the assumption that guides the vast majority of brands – probably including yours.  It’s the water they swim in, […]

One. Stupid. Thing.

Look, you might be very smart, but that’s not going to help you. The truth is that everyone’s smart.  Everyone who you’re in competition with anyway. In the founder game, and the strategy game, intelligence isn’t an edge: it’s a commodity.  It’s like being a footballer who’s fit, or an author who can write: sure […]

The “Thingness” of strategy: The mindset shift that changes everything

If there’s one part of my job that really sucks, it’s this: Nobody is shopping for what I’m selling. There are companies out there thinking “we need a lawyer”, so they go shopping for a law firm.  There are companies thinking “we need a new website”, so they go shopping for a web developer.  There […]

The coming of the desperate brands

A note before we begin: the below describes a trend which I’m sure is true, but which would benefit from more research than I’ve had time to do.  It references certain brands only from an outside consumer perspective – and thus does so perhaps a bit unfairly. But still I’m not a journalist or academic, […]

Product is nothing: How to see things the way your customers do

People – especially founders – are fond of saying “product is everything”.  Have a great product, and you’ll succeed.  Have a poor product, and you’ll fail.  That’s the general idea. It’s a nice sentiment, and true enough in a number of ways, but in a bigger way… it’s bullshit.  Not just bullshit, but dangerous bullshit, since it […]