If you can only track ONE metric, make it this…

How do most people feel on their birthday? It’s not great… They feel like time is slipping away. Like the end is creeping closer. Like they’re running out of everything – youth, vigour, and opportunities to build the life they dream of. And then one day, it gets even worse. One day, you feel like […]

Elite strategic thinking boiled down to just two words

If I were you? I’d take the two words I’m about to give you, write them on a Post-it, and stick them to your desk. Look at them every day, and at least once, and briefly meditate on them. Because although they are quite obvious, they actually represent a huge psychological challenge for the vast […]

This is the underrated skill I want to master in 2025.

There’s a secret skill the greatest leaders possess, but the rest of us do not. The reason it’s “secret” isn’t because it’s hidden. It’s because it’s something most of us don’t consider a skill. In fact, it’s something most of us consider a vice, rather than something to aspire to. The skill I’m referring to? […]

The two most powerful words in business – use them constantly

Your language determines your thoughts. Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine your results. So I guess in a sense those postmodernists were right about something – the way you use language matters. More than you think. Luckily however we don’t need to overthink it too drastically when it comes to business. In fact […]

The Casino Technique: why some people always seem to win, and others struggle

Do you believe that success comes down to luck? Whether it’s for your business or yourself, do you think that although your own actions are important, it is ultimately circumstance that separates the winners and losers? Clearly this is a tempting and logical conclusion. After all, if you look back on any success story, you […]

Forget failure, here’s how to learn from success

Most of us are pretty good at blaming outside factors for our failures. The economy sucked My business partner screwed me Our team stinks Etc. Now I’m not going to tell you to stop making such excuses, and to start taking responsibility for yourself (even though you should). No, for the purposes of this piece […]

Here’s why you struggle to make big moves

I think most of us here probably understand this simple idea: The main difference between the people who achieve extraordinary things, and the rest of us, is the willingness to take massive action. Like everything, this applies to both the personal and professional. The main thing that stops people achieving something – whether its getting […]

Do you have to be an a*hole to be good at strategy?

This is quite a strange question. It’s strange because very few people are asking it. Nobody really assumes that you need to be an asshole to do strategy, so why would I even bring it up? It sounds like asking if you need to be Spanish to drive a train, or short to peel an […]

How to do strategy for your own career

You’ll only really understand strategy when you understand this: It’s a universal pattern It’s not a piece of technical knowledge, it’s not something invented, it’s not super domain specific.  It’s basically about understanding how things (e.g. businesses) fit into wider systems (e.g. markets) in a healthy and harmonious way that benefits all parties. (Granted there […]

Three reasons great strategists think more about style than substance

“The world doesn’t reward the people with the best ideas. It rewards the people who are best at communicating ideas.” – David Perrell We all know that ideas (and strategies) are worth nothing, and execution is everything.  This is obvious, or should be anyway. But the notion above? This is more subtle, and I think […]