Dive deep into business, brand and strategy.
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Why “We Want to Be Like ‘X’ or ‘Y’ Company” Isn’t a Strategy
It’s easy to idolize successful companies and think, “If we do what they do, we’ll succeed too.” But mimicry is not the key to innovation and growth. It’s also lazy. Let’s dive into why copying others can actually hinder your progress, whether you’re a startup founder or a Fortune 500 CEO. The Imitation Trap: A…
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Stop Listening to Your Clients: The Case for Gut Instincts in Business
We’ve all been told that the customer is always right and client feedback is the holy grail of business success. But what if we’ve been getting it wrong? What if, sometimes, the best way to innovate and drive your business forward is to stop listening to your clients and start trusting your gut instincts? The…
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The Big Short Explains Why Smart People Act Stupid in Business
Last night, I rewatched “The Big Short (TBS),” a film that brilliantly dissects the 2008 financial crisis. As I watched, it struck me how this movie perfectly illustrates why even the smartest people in large organizations can make disastrously poor decisions. Let’s take a look at the systemic, cultural, and psychological factors at play. 1.…
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From Courtrooms to Salesrooms: The Unseen Choreography of Decision-Making
TL;DR: Your feelings during a crime could determine your sentence. Facts and logic take a backseat when emotions enter the room. Picture the courtroom in the O.J. Simpson trial, alive with emotions; each fact presented potentially altering the case, with pragmatism anchoring justice amidst human feelings. Now, shift to a bustling salesroom, where a salesperson,…
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How to launch a school without talking about it or using digital (GTM Strategy)
In this digital age, it’s rare to find a marketing campaign that avoids the usual digital trappings where marketers are obsessed with SEO, organic or ads. GTM with a twist. My agency was tasked with launching a brand-new school, where we took an unconventional path, and the results? Well, they were nothing short of groundbreaking.…
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How do you get your team to believe in what you sell?
Have you ever scratched your head, wondering how to get the people in charge of selling to believe in what they’re selling? You’re not alone. Many business owners, founders, and chief sales officers grapple with the same issue. It’s a silent crisis – a creeping loss of self-belief in sales teams, especially when it comes…
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The Quiet Coup: How Consultants Quietly Overtook Agencies
In the bustling corridors of a Fortune 500 company, a CEO once remarked after a failed advertising campaign, “The creatives looked good, but it didn’t feel right strategically.” This sentiment encapsulates the tension between the worlds of consulting and agency. But what drives this tension? The answer lies in two foundational documents: the business case…
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Managers Thrive in Meetings; Creatives Flourish Outside Them
In the bustling landscape of the modern workplace, two distinct species coexist: managers, who thrive in the structured confines of meetings, and creatives, who flourish in the expansive wilderness outside them. This dichotomy, however, presents a paradox. As a leader, you might believe you’re fostering innovation, but the conventional manager’s schedule could be suffocating your…
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From Janitors to Jargon: Navigating the Big Four with an Unlikely Tool
👀 I’m about to tell you how I used my ‘humanity compass’ to navigate the wild jungles of consulting, where power suits meet PowerPoint slides, and where it’s easier to get lost in the jargon than to find a free meeting room! Ever tried striking up a conversation with a security guard on a bustling…
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The Chacha Chaudhary Guide to Leadership
TLDR; Navigating the business world is a bit like being the characters from Chacha Chaudhary comics. There’s Chacha, the small old man with a red turban known for his intelligence. Then there’s Sabu, his loyal friend from Jupiter, who is as strong as he is tall, often saying, “Sabu ko jab gussa aata hai, to…
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The Hustle of Indian Street Hawkers: Lessons in Productized Services
Growing up in a bustling neighbourhood of Chandigarh, India, the cacophony of street hawkers was the soundtrack of my childhood. The kaleidoscope of their wares — balloons in riotous colours, meticulously stacked fruits, basic groceries, tinkling ice cream carts, whimsical toys, and the ‘bartan-wala’ with his assortment of cleaning products — was a daily carnival…
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Seeing Apple’s Genius: The Power of Simplified Language in Tech
I’ve recently immersed myself in Apple’s latest keynote, and the revelation hit me like a ton of bricks – the audacity of simplicity steals the show. It’s out there, blatantly audacious yet subtly brilliant, making me wonder – why don’t more tech giants embrace this apparent magic trick? Apple has deciphered the code that eludes…
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