Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter We ate a big salad outside under one of Seattle’s rare, brilliant blue skies. My friend Chris Hare, an expert in the science of storytelling, had invited a fascinating group of new friends from companies including Microsoft, Costco and Amazon over for a housewarming dinner. The […]
The Right Time to Grow Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter The chief of staff to the CEO often functions as the chief strategy officer, whether the organization recognizes it or not. This is not because the chief of staff necessarily owns strategic planning or carries the CSO title. It is because the role sits at the
Your Chief of Staff May Already Be the Chief Strategy Officer Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter On a recent onboarding call with a new Outthinker member, we were discussing the role of the chief strategy officer when he offered a description that made me laugh. If the position is not carefully defined, he said, the CSO can quickly become the “Chief Random
Avoiding Strategic Drift: How Strategy Officers Keep Companies On Course Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter Our house in Miami is slowly disappearing into boxes. For years, it has held the evidence of a family becoming itself: books read and forgotten, photographs waiting to be framed, furniture chosen for rooms we no longer use in the same way, and objects that belonged
What Constraints Reveal: What We Choose to Keep Says Everything About What We Value Most Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter One key reason I value our Outthinker roundtables is that they rarely stay theoretical for long. We may begin with a framework. We may invite someone with deep expertise to discuss the issue. But quickly, the conversation moves into the real work of leadership: What happens
The Hard Part Is Just Beginning: Senior Leaders Confront AI’s Next Test Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter Luxembourg looks like the kind of place where a Bond film would begin. The city rises in layers. Stone bridges stretch over deep green ravines. Glass buildings catch the light above medieval walls. Narrow streets bend into grand civic squares. There is a sense of secrecy,
Luxembourg, Capitalism, and the Bridges Businesses Need Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter A recent LinkedIn post by Jason Chudoba, managing partner at ICR, caught my attention. Jason had just joined one of our Outthinker roundtables on strategy and investor relations, where he helped frame a conversation among chief strategy officers, investor relations leaders, transformation executives, private equity leaders,
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter As part of the research for a book I hope to publish next year, I have interviewed 26 entrepreneurs who built companies that grew beyond $1 billion in revenue. These are people who did not just start businesses. They created categories, reshaped industries, attracted customers at
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter Last week, I had lunch with my daughter in Lisbon. It was one of those moments that seems ordinary while it’s happening but feels increasingly meaningful as your children grow older. A few hours carved out between flights, meetings, and speaking engagements while my daughter happened
The Conversation Advantage: Lessons from Lisbon, New York, and the AI Era Read More »
Listen to an AI audio recording of this newsletter For years, leaders have been told that customers do not just buy products or services. They buy experiences. That idea, popularized by Joe Pine and James Gilmore in The Experience Economy, changed how companies thought about value creation. Coffee was no longer just coffee. A hotel
The Next Competitive Advantage Is Not the Experience. It Is the Transformation. Read More »
