The Cult of Optimization
“The problem here is obvious to anyone not immersed in the culture of Silicon Valley. Not every worthwhile objective can be measured.”
Strategic thinking
Defining the problem, finding insights, writing the brief, all that.
29 records updated
Define the problem
2 RECORDS
Thinking Tools
A collection of tools that are useful in creative problem solving which generally follows the steps of clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.
Find the insight
2 RECORDS
#188People Doo Doo
The entire discipline of ‘creative strategy’ rests on just one single observation. You cannot make people do things.
"AI-Powered" Isn't a Position
“You have to do things that are hard to replicate via AI alone. Show up in person. Be personal in your storytelling. Make physical things.”
Decisions
3 RECORDS
Efficiency is a stupid way to run a business
If you truly do not care about what you’re doing and just want to collect a paycheque, then efficiency is the perfect mantra. Don’t make decisions, just do whatever is cheapest.
Positioning is deciding
If the leader is capable of leaning in, fully examining decisions, and making them with conviction, positioning work goes well.
Your Brand is Not for Everyone
“Constraint operates not as a restriction but as a shaping force.”
AI pressure
6 RECORDS
What strategy directors expect from your AI skills
Familiarity is no longer a flex, it's the floor.
You can't beat AI.
“What happens when the thing you used to sell becomes almost free?”
Don't fetishize friction, that's not the point
The task is to think about the thing, not generate some words.
Researchers Asked LLMs for Strategic Advice. They Got "Trendslop" in Return.
“This propensity for AI to opt for buzzy ideas over reasoned solutions is called "trendslop," and leaders should beware of it warping their strategic planning.”
More links
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The Great Flattening: Corporate AI Language and Brand Voice Opportunity
The State of Brand
Sent
#178
“Corporate America is converging on a single voice. The brands that opt out will own the next decade.”
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LLMs for Strategy: a Scorecard
Delightful
Sent
#175
“Hahaha, says the reader. Hahaha … fuck.”
Strategist identity
6 RECORDS
Welcome to the Guild of Better
Deserve is not earned by the customer. It is owed by the maker.
What Strategists Need to Do in a World Where There's a Surplus of Smarts
The test: Can someone describe what they would buy from you without using the word “strategy”?
Bed of Nails
Organisations tend to drift, by human bias and default, towards Pointies at the top and Softies underneath.
Monotasking: Inside the Box Excerpt
Constraints push the brain beyond its default tendencies, forcing deeper problem-solving
The Semantic Drift of The Strategist
“So I grabbed 100 titles from 2nd-degree connections on LinkedIn that had strategy somewhere in the visible profile and ran some analysis.”
Selling Strategy Without the Sleaze
“You are remembered for the help you provide, not the noise you make.”
Workshops & process
2 RECORDS
How to Drop Killer Workshops
“Market the workshop activities like you are teaching children.”
How to Drop Killer Workshops
“Market the workshop activities like you are teaching children.”
Resources
8 RECORDS
#19040+ of the best people I know in the world of strategy and ideas
Very kind of Rob to include me in this list, thanks man.
#190Coglode Cookbook
The latest behavioural research distilled, applied and combined to make better strategic decisions
Creative Brief Cheat Sheet: Templates, Examples, How To's
“The brief tells you the what. It doesn't answer the how. That's where the work comes in.”
The Imagination Curriculum
“A reading list for strategists who want to think dangerously.”
More links
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Strat Scraps Ad Toolbox
Strat Scraps
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#189
36 tools organized by ad collections, copywriting, design, research, and audience
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WEIRD WINS
Outlier
Sent
#187
Why, how, and when weird wins - and what you can practically do as an agency, brand or just human to win weird too.
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The Strategy & Planning Scrapbook
STRAT_SCRAPS
Sent
#182
A curated collection of strategy frameworks, creative provocations, and planning tools — compiled from years of practice in brand strategy and advertising.
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Building a Second Brain for Strategists
Phillip Lee Strategy
Sent
#181
How I combined Claude and Obsidian to build a personal knowledge system from scratch, in a single afternoon, with no coding background.