What does meaningful work really look like?

The other day I saw a great couple of tweets from a user called Madeon, which I repeat here in full: “I think it’s a tired idea to pretend every piece of art is ‘telling a story’ or ‘spreading a message’ like those are the only valid reasons to create” “Can you imagine watching a […]

The secret process of expert thinkers

I’m going to level with you. It’s about how I work. And I’ll admit up front, it makes me look kinda lazy and unprofessional. But through this essay I hope to show that not only is there logic in the laziness – but that it’s actually the only way to do effective intellectual and creative work. First, […]

Strategy should be joyful

Somewhere along the way, business has acquired an unwritten rule that goes something like this: Creativity and artistry are only to be applied in the media elements of company, specifically its advertising and branding. Advertising and branding, the external media “dressing” of a business, are the acceptable canvas for fun, playful, exuberant, emotional creative thinking, […]

Taste: The secret ingredient

A client and I were recently analysing the surprising success of the canned water brand Liquid Death, now valued at over $700 million.  In case you’re not familiar with it, Liquid Death is notable because the entire brand is essentially one big joke – it’s water (obviously a pure and healthy substance), presented in a “dangerous” […]

Don’t try

There’s an idea which permeates our schools, workplaces, and culture at large which goes something like this: The more effort you put in, the more results you get out. It’s a truism so bland and uncontroversial that it barely registers as an “idea” at all.  It’s more like a scientific law, taken for granted as […]

“The great flattening”: A visual companion

These essays tend to be a bit wordy, so I thought I’d mix things up today with a few pictures. This is courtesy of blogger David Perell, who by chance compiled a few images the other day which directly speak to some of the trends we’ve been discussing. He calls it “The Great Flattening”, by which […]

What I learned being fired twice

This is a slightly tricky essay to write.  Not for the obvious reason that it brings up potentially embarrassing episodes from my past, but actually for the opposite reason: that these days it’s hard to write about “being fired” without it sounding like you’re bragging. It’s a weird thing, but as we have discussed before, in this perma-revolutionary […]

Devil on your shoulder: The role of temptation in strategy

Today I want to introduce you to a concept I call “choice gravity”, but which you might know by a slightly more conventional and spicy word: temptation. What does temptation have to do with strategy?  One hell of a lot really (hell, in a sense, being the operative word here). How so? Well, I’m sure you’ve […]

The crucial difference between imagination and creativity

“I’m not creative”. Have you ever said this?  It’s a phrase you hear often, even from founders, which is funny when you think about it, because founders are by definition creative in the most concrete sense. The thing is, for the most part when we say “I’m not creative”, we generally don’t actually mean that.  We mean […]

Why successful founders give the worst advice

I’ve written before about the inherent limits of expertise, and how it is at that boundary that strategy takes over. What I’ve not written about however is the limits of strategy. The reason for that is pretty obvious of course, it’s hardly in my best interests.  I’m here to sell you on strategic thinking, and the […]