Imagine yourself in any major supermarket. One can get lost in multiple aisles of single-use plastic bottles filled with soap, gel, wash, shampoo, and conditioner for your body, face, hands, privates, and hair. The cosmetic and personal care section occupies another few aisles with attractively packaged soon-to-be landfill waste. More soaps for laundry and dishes border rows of household cleaning products, air and fabric fresheners. Toothpaste and brightly colored plastic toothbrushes have their own aisle. A few years ago one of the FMCG multinationals released a bamboo toothbrush in a flash of self-congratulatory marketing hype. I’ve never seen one in a store and that technology […]
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Fast-Food Thinking
Who writes your menu? The menu you eat from? The menu you consume information from? The menu of daily choices you consider free will. The menu of breakthrough business insights that promise a leadership advantage? Is it clear by now it’s just multiple choice, mostly bad ones? Predetermined options that deliver for someone else — someone you pay with your money, time, physical & mental health, or your privacy? Does it concern you? Surely you’ve heard a version of “the menu is not the choices/the map is not the territory.” Yet the menu and map are increasingly controlled by consolidated gatekeepers that discourage mental or […]
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NOTE5: Sore Winners and Auto-cannibalism (Meanwhile, on Twitter…)
Since *winning* the 2020 media-election there’s a variety of reaction from prominent and wannabe-prominent people that ranges from unsurprising to fiery but peaceful. These examples don’t apply to the vast majority of citizens but you do need to know where the elected, media and chattering classes all stand. Those in the most immediate danger are rational, left-leaning people because they’re soft targets. In professional settings, especially where there are permissive leaders who aren’t / don’t have time to pay close attention, the goalposts are moving. Thought-policing is exploding and non-conformity will be punished if the weak, bureaucratic professional-class (ahem, HR) is left in charge. Good […]
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The Pebble Principle (Habits)
I started this brief a long time ago and then 2020 happened. Something reinforced by this year’s events is that aggressive pragmatism holds the line through trends, and through crisis. You hear a lot about “pivoting.” How many leaders are pivoting from one trend to another trend? There are moments that call for bold action but the pebble principle holds steady. Consistent, repeated small actions tend to generate the most returns. Often times the action is avoidance. Here are 3 favorites: Avoid trends — the amount of money and resources swallowed by well-marketed trends is staggering when weighed against value. Don’t be afraid to look […]
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