Blog

This audio was recorded by AI.   I’m eating lunch at a restaurant in the Pallazzo Hotel in Las Vegas and thinking about the keynote address I’m delivering tomorrow. After a restorative August of deep work, I’m entering the season of movement again—Vegas, Colorado, San Diego, Boston—speech after speech, conversation after conversation. The November Outthinker […]

This audio was recorded by AI.   In my hunt for the top companies to round out the upcoming Outthinker List, I’ve discovered that Sprouts Farmers Market offers a masterclass in CLV-inspired success. The outlier in its industry, Sprouts wins by getting sharper, not bigger. While most grocers chase breadth and promotions, Sprouts narrowed the

This audio was recorded by AI.   Earlier this year, I began a journey. I set out to interview entrepreneurs who had achieved something extraordinarily rare: breaking through $500 million in revenue, with many going on to scale their companies past $1 billion. So far, I’ve spoken with about 20 CEOs who have done it,

This audio was recorded by AI.   To prepare for the upcoming Outthinker Summit in London on November 5, I’ve been diving deep into a question that’s fascinated me for years: why do some companies surge ahead while others, with similar resources and opportunities, struggle to keep pace? It’s a search for the patterns, practices,

This audio was recorded by AI.   When investors talk about Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) — the company that operates a portfolio of brands including its namesake Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People — the conversation often starts with volatility. Retail is a fickle business, tethered to shifting tastes and exposed to margin pressure from

This audio was recorded by AI.   What do Amazon’s recommendations, Celestica’s strategic pivot, and your Spotify Discover Weekly playlist all have in common? They’re reflections of a world that no longer sees customers as one-time transactions but as relationships. In today’s data-rich, digitally connected economy, the metric that matters most isn’t revenue or margin.

This audio was recorded by AI.   You may not recognize Celestica’s name, but odds are your digital life runs through them. Whether you’re streaming a video, backing up your phone, or accessing the cloud, the underlying infrastructure was likely designed, assembled, or managed by Celestica. The company is one of the world’s largest electronics

This audio was recorded by AI.   Right now, I’m on a catamaran just off the coast of Naples. The water is impossibly blue. The salty breeze cuts the heat in just the right way. And even though I’m thousands of miles from my desk, I feel fully connected, not to email or conference calls,

This audio was recorded by AI.   When people talk about strategy, they usually think of bold visions, disruptive innovations, or market-defining moves. We’re drawn to the excitement of new products, technological leaps, and clever marketing. Yet there’s one driver of long-term business success that rarely makes the headlines but quietly shapes the fate of

This audio was recorded by AI.   An old management saying goes, “We don’t have time to find more time.” That rings especially true in complex organizations facing constant change and rapid digital transformation. Beneath what looks like surface-level chaos lie intricate networks of interactions, learning, and decision-making. Today, leaders face a paradox: as companies