250: Tom Eddington, Climate change: The root cause of COVID

This week's podcast features Jenna Tiffany, London School of Economics lecturer, sharing actionable insights on why most marketing misses the mark and what real value looks like in an AI-driven business environment. Key discussion points include: The real reason marketing sometimes fails to deliver measurable value, and why strategy must be linked to clear organizational objectives. How AI is disrupting both the skillset and mindset of marketers, what skills must be protected, and which can be augmented. Practical approaches for using generative AI, including persona-building and campaign analysis, without losing brand authenticity. Tools, books, and habits Jenna uses to stay ahead in strategy, marketing, and technology, plus her top recommendation for implementing responsible AI. Jenna draws on her experience consulting for advanced tech firms, mentoring marketers, and authoring frameworks for success, illuminating what will define great marketers over the next decade. 📚 Get Jenna's book, Marketing Strategy, here: https://shorturl.at/kIBWJ Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

8 Okt 202554min

MichaelAaron Flicker, founder and CEO of Xenopsi Ventures and coauthor of Hacking the Human Mind, explains how applied behavioral science transforms insight into repeatable commercial advantage across brands, products, and customer experiences. Drawing from his experience building multiple Inc. 5000–recognized companies, Flicker illustrates how understanding "the unconscious biases that drive our actions" can make marketing, consulting, and organizational strategy more effective. The discussion links behavioral research to real-world business practice, naming, positioning, experience design, and sales behavior, so leaders can test small, evidence-based changes that have outsized impact on recall, adoption, and loyalty. Key insights include: Prioritize one persuasive benefit. "How could one firm be good at everything?" Flicker notes. Presenting a single, clear advantage is more believable than listing many. He cites the gold-dilution effect—the psychological finding that "people are more confident when just one advantage is presented." Five Guys' "burgers and fries" focus exemplifies this principle. Make messages concrete. "You could see it in your mind," Flicker says of Steve Jobs's famous iPod line, "1,000 songs in your pocket." Studies show concrete imagery is four times more memorable than abstract phrasing, a lesson echoed by taglines like "Taste the Rainbow" and "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." Design for the peak and the end. Experiences are remembered by their high point and final moment, not their average quality, the peak-end rule first documented by Daniel Kahneman. Memorable, low-cost touches, like the "popsicle hotline" at Los Angeles's Magic Castle Hotel or Virgin's post-checkout beach service, create disproportionate positive recall. Close the intention–action gap. People often fail to follow through on good intentions. Tying behavior to time, place, and social triggers—"be there for your daughter's piano recital this July"—is more effective than abstract logic about long-term health or performance. Apply behavioral science ethically. "These are not tricks to change people," Flicker emphasizes. "They're pre-existing biases we all have." Used responsibly, behavioral insights help customers make better decisions and strengthen brand trust. Focus on systems, not slogans. Flicker highlights organizational habits, 25- and 50-minute meetings, strong psychological safety, and delegation with accountability, as tools that sustain experimentation and growth. "Your most critical people have to feel they can say they're not sure what to do," he notes, describing curiosity and candor as the foundation of learning cultures. For executives in marketing, product, or consulting, this episode offers a practical playbook: choose one idea to own, communicate it concretely, engineer memorable moments, and test small behavioral interventions tied to measurable outcomes. The result is persuasion grounded in science—systematic, ethical, and repeatable. 📚 Get MichaelAaron's book, Hacking the Human Mind, here: https://shorturl.at/zV3HW Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

6 Okt 202549min

Mita Mallick, Wall Street Journal–bestselling author and workplace strategist, examines how everyday managerial choices determine whether organizations are resilient, humane, and productive. Drawing on her leadership roles in marketing and human resources, as well as her lived experience as a woman of color in corporate America, she reframes common leadership breakdowns as design failures that can be prevented with the right structures. As she emphasizes, "There is power in being quiet." Used deliberately, silence becomes a tool to pause, observe, and de-escalate rather than react impulsively. This episode delivers concrete practices senior leaders can apply now: Use silence deliberately. The "power of the pause" creates thinking space, defuses escalation, and strengthens negotiation outcomes. Leaders should model this and teach teams to signal reflection rather than defaulting to instant responses. Manage up with discipline. Mallick recommends structured, written briefings before talent reviews or board conversations so sponsors can "accurately tell your story" without relying on biased memory. Detect leadership drift early. She observes that leaders often falter when "external market stress, personal stress, and organizational pressure all collide." Each executive should know their stress-trigger behaviors and plan for corrective action. Design role transitions intentionally. Promotion into people leadership requires coaching, clear expectations, and viable technical career paths for high-performing individual contributors. Replace ad hoc tolerance with governance. "We protect harmful leaders because they deliver results," she warns. Leaders must enforce HR processes consistently rather than granting exceptions that damage culture. Teach rather than micromanage. Explaining rationale, setting standards, and investing in instruction yields lasting capability—"training sticks more than corrections." Rebuild trust through apology and consistency. A sincere acknowledgment of mistakes paired with steady, visible actions restores credibility faster than one-time gestures. Create high-trust, low-drama operating norms. Clear rules for communication channels, urgency, and information-sharing reduce gossip and anxiety, replacing speculation with facts. For executives responsible for people, operations, or culture, this conversation provides a practical checklist: stop treating leadership problems as individual personality flaws, surface stress signals systematically, and convert empathy into repeatable management routines that protect both performance and retention. 📚 Get Mita's book, The Devil Emails at Midnight, here: https://shorturl.at/xWjjj Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Okt 202552min

Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLT Global and coauthor of The CEO's Guide to the Investment Galaxy, offers a disciplined primer for executives operating at the intersection of corporate strategy and capital markets. Drawing from her background in investment banking, government, consulting, and asset management, she explains why "investors are not a single audience," how their incentives shape corporate outcomes, and what leaders must do differently to secure durable capital and strategic flexibility. Williamson pushes back on conventional wisdom about investor relations, replacing it with practical routines and priorities. She emphasizes a consulting-rooted discipline, "Start with the answer", as a communications principle, and translates it into a concrete playbook for CEOs who cannot afford ambiguity when describing long-term bets. She underscores that "quarterly calls are important, but they're often dominated by the sell side," and CEOs should deliberately allocate their limited time toward building trust with long-term owners and anchor shareholders. Key takeaways include: Map the owners. "Who actually owns your company? Who makes the decisions about those shares?" Owner types—retail, index funds, active managers, hedge funds—differ in incentives and time horizons, and executives should treat that map as a strategic input. Build an investor strategy like a customer strategy. Decide which kinds of capital the company needs, why, and how to attract and retain those investors. Use a long-term roadmap. Make risky investments intelligible by explaining milestones that link short-term actions to enduring value, and "don't be afraid to update the roadmap when the assumptions change." Translate investor signals into operational choices. Avoid reflexive short-term fixes, like cutting R&D to meet a quarter, without measuring the long-term cost. Treat disclosure and dialogue as governance tools. Clarity about ownership, voting, and incentives reduces misalignment and reputational risk. Reframe consultancy input for execution. "The hard part is not the analysis, the hard part is making it happen inside the organization." This episode equips CEOs, CFOs, and board members with a practical framework for raising capital, defending strategic bets, and managing shareholder composition. It reframes investor engagement from a compliance exercise into a core discipline of strategy and governance. 📚 Get Sarah's book, The CEO's Guide to the Investment Galaxy, here: https://shorturl.at/7hFeb Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

24 Sep 202550min

James D. White, former CEO of Jamba Juice, current board chair, and coauthor of Culture Design, shares how culture becomes a management discipline rather than a slogan. Drawing on his eight-year turnaround of Jamba, service on more than 15 boards, and leadership toolkit, he explains how listening, rituals, and disciplined systems embed values into sustained performance. Key takeaways: Start with stakeholder listening. White began his turnaround with nearly 200 "start, stop, continue" inputs across employees, suppliers, and board members. "I always start by listening," he says, because the people inside the company "actually know what's required to make the company run better." Make culture intentional. "Companies have culture by design or default." Define what matters, create rituals that reinforce it, and remove practices that contradict stated values. Reduce the say–do gap. "The really important things from a leadership perspective is what we say versus what we do, and minimizing the say–do gap." Simple rituals—forums, recognition, measurement—align words with actions. Invest in people individually. "People don't care how much you know until they understand how much you care about them personally." One-on-ones and role design that lean into strengths unlock discretionary effort. Demand transparency. White is direct: "I want bad news first." Candor allows leaders to respond before problems multiply. Design mechanics, not just rhetoric. From anonymous feedback channels to departmental listening sessions, operating processes must "make it easier for our stores to deliver great products in the most efficient fashion." Balance preservation and change. Protect what works—"fantastic products" and passionate employees—while reallocating resources. One example was adding steel-cut oatmeal for colder markets, paired with smoothies. Measure what matters. "Anything that matters, you always measure it." White combines Gallup Q12 surveys, pulse checks, and qualitative indicators like recognition letters to monitor engagement. Clarify board vs. CEO roles. "The CEO is responsible for running the company… the board chair is a facilitator of the collective board." A strong chair–CEO relationship unburdens management while channeling board expertise. Exit with care. Not every role fits every person: "You often… get to a place where you free up people's future to go do something else. You do it with kindness and grace and thoughtfulness." For executives facing turnaround, scaling challenges, or governance decisions, this episode offers a tested blueprint: start with listening, design culture deliberately, align actions with words, and lead with humanity. 📚 Get James's book, Culture Design, here: https://shorturl.at/NVrs1 Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Sep 202542min

Laura Ries, globally recognized marketing strategist and author of The Strategic Enemy, outlines a category-first approach to brand building. As she explains, "while people talk in brands, they really think in categories. The category is king." Her core message: focus, contrast, and clarity determine whether a brand leads or disappears. The conversation emphasizes why narrowing focus creates strength, when to launch a new brand name rather than extend an old one, and how visible, repeatable signals, what Ries calls a "visual hammer", turn a positioning into dominance. She draws on vivid examples: Kodak's misstep in naming its first digital cameras, Toyota's use of Lexus to enter the luxury market, Subaru's turnaround through all-wheel-drive focus, and Target's positioning as "cheap chic" against Walmart. Strategic takeaways for leaders include: Define and own a category. "The power is in owning a singular idea, and the even more powerful thing is to dominate and own a category." Choose a strategic enemy. As Ries argues, "the mind understands opposition faster than superiority." Standing against something clarifies what you stand for. Use new names for new categories. Legacy names can trap perception in the old category. Deploy the visual hammer. A simple, memorable image or symbol cements positioning more powerfully than words alone. Keep the message simple and repeat it. Brands like BMW ("The Ultimate Driving Machine") and Chick-fil-A ("Eat More Chicken") succeeded through decades of repetition, not campaign churn. Invest in leadership visibility. Well-known figures, from Anna Wintour at Vogue to Elon Musk at Tesla, can embody and amplify brand positioning. Treat AI as a tool, not a substitute. Ries uses it for research synthesis but insists, "there's a great human element that is still incredibly valuable." For executives shaping brand portfolios or launching new products, this discussion offers a disciplined playbook: narrow the focus, name carefully, define the enemy, and repeat until the position is instinctive in customers' minds. 📚 Get Laura's book, The Strategic Enemy, here: https://shorturl.at/PUuwc Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

17 Sep 202545min

Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, founder of LANcity, author of The Accidental Network, and widely known as the "father of the cable modem", shares the story of how broadband was built and the lessons it offers for today's leaders navigating AI and emerging technologies. Arriving in the U.S. with $750 in savings, Yassini-Fard envisioned carrying "voice, data and video… over one cable instead of two" at a time when few believed homes would ever need to be connected. Over nine years, with just 13 employees and seven consultants, he built a working product, proved its reliability, and persuaded the cable industry to adopt it. By 1996, his team had driven device costs from $8,000 down to under $300 and helped create DOCSIS, the global broadband standard, released royalty-free to speed adoption. Reflecting on today's tech landscape, he cautions: "It's not just really money… you need more than that. It's a proven prototype and a product that actually does the talking." Valuations without execution, he warns, will accelerate failure. Key lessons include: Prototype before scale: Capital is wasted without demonstrable performance in real environments. Treat infrastructure as strategy: Broadband enabled Silicon Valley, Netflix, telehealth, and remote work; leaders must model today's energy, compute, and connectivity constraints when sizing AI opportunities. Open standards matter: Royalty-free interoperability can turn a niche idea into an industry platform. Execution trumps valuation: LANcity beat Motorola and Intel with disciplined engineering, resilient supply chains, and relentless customer trials. Anchor to customer economics: Early users became advocates because the modem delivered day-to-day value. Looking forward, Yassini-Fard stresses that AI and robotics will stall without addressing power and infrastructure: "For some of these AI companies to be successful, they need gigawatts of power… it takes 10 years to build a nuclear reactor that gives you one." He highlights quantum computing and network management as the next frontiers, and calls for workforce retraining in mathematics, physics, and the skilled trades that sustain digital systems. For executives evaluating platform bets or emerging technologies, this conversation offers a grounded blueprint: start with the prototype, model the infrastructure honestly, choose standards deliberately, and align capital with execution discipline. 📚 Get Rouzbeh's book, The Accidental Network, here: https://shorturl.at/rUB1T Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

15 Sep 202555min

Former Goldman Sachs executive Erin Coupe shares how she transformed her life and career by replacing routines with rituals, practicing meditation, and stepping into self-leadership. In this episode of the Strategy Skills Podcast, Kris Safarova and Erin dive deep into practical lessons for entrepreneurs, consultants, and online business owners who want more clarity, energy, and independence. Based on her book, I Can Fit That In: How Rituals Transform Your Life, Erin explains how to: Build rituals that fuel focus, creativity, and business growth. Use meditation to calm your mind and access deeper ideas. Lead yourself first — so you can lead teams, clients, and businesses better. Align achievement with values to avoid burnout and emptiness. See AI not just as a tool for efficiency, but as a partner in self-discovery. This conversation is perfect for online business owners, consultants, authors, and executives building a life and career on their own terms. Learn more about Erin here: https://www.erincoupe.com/ 📚 Get Erin's book, I Can Fit That In, here: https://www.erincoupe.com/i-can-fit-that-in Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

10 Sep 202553min