During the parade for newly minted United States NBA champions, the New York Knicks, Mayor Mamdani didn’t simply say, ‘Well done, boys.’ He turned his speech into a rally and referendum on the spirit of the city. If you haven’t seen it, spare a minute and watch this short edit. During Game...
In the mid-90s Disney’s purpose was ‘to make people happy‘. Fast forward 30 years and they appear to have ditched the idea altogether. Moving to the wilted word salad, “to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds...
Patagonia’s email subject line proclaimed, “Nothing we do is sustainable.” Talk about a home truth. In five words. One of the most environmentally minded companies on the planet—they made the planet their only shareholder—upped the ante on all the greenwashed wannabes out there. Inside the email was a link to their...
There’s a quote from mathematician Jim Simons talking about beauty in work, "You might think 'building a company that's trading bonds, what's so aesthetic about that?' What's aesthetic about it is doing it right. Getting the right kind of people, approaching the problem, and doing it right it's a beautiful...
It’s a new year and a new platform and look. From here on, I’m using Substack to send you The Brand Article. It’s a better platform to publish my work on and hopefully a better experience for you. So, let’s go. The start of 2025 also means a fresh slate of questions...
My first book called Between Making Money and World Peace is about finding your purpose and values.And while some of my thinking about how you do that and the role they play has evolved since I pulled it together. What remains true is most organisations sit somewhere between chasing profit...
During a recent lengthy morning commute, I listened to the Knowledge Project podcast, where host Shane Parrish interviewed Aaron Dignan. Aaron’s a coach and author of Brave New Work. There were a lot of good insights, and one in particular grabbed my attention.They were talking about how misusing compliance undermines...
Hands up if you have a ‘to-do’ list. I suspect nearly everyone does. Now hands up if you have a ‘done’ list. Fewer if any, hands in the air. Me among you. I stumbled upon the idea last week from Oliver Burkeman, a favourite thinker about how to use our...
Yvon Chouinard, the influential, irascible founder of outdoor apparel company Patagonia, last week announced the next bold act in a long line of moves that have challenged the status quo of how a company can succeed and hold to what it believes. Not that it should surprise anyone who’s followed the company. In...
When a brand’s store of value overflows, there’s usually an undercurrent of I care about what you care about going on between me and you. It shows up in both the promises made and agreed upon.Within those same promises is a contract called ‘what we owe each other’. In his...