Like a child star whose fame fades as the years advance, many once-innovative companies become less so as they mature.

We like to believe we can break strategy down to Five Forces or Seven Ss. But you can't. Strategy is extraordinarily emotional and demanding.

What matters in the new economy is not return on investment, but return on imagination

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you're on a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. Of course, there are other strategies. You can change riders. You can get a committee to study the dead horse. You can benchmark how other companies ride dead horses. You can declare that it's cheaper to feed a dead horse. You can harness several dead horses together. But after you've tried all these things, you're still going to have to dismount.

If customer ignorance is a profit centre for you, you're in trouble.

The fact is, society is made more hospitable by every individual who acts as if 'do unto others' really was a rule.

A titled leader relies heavily on positional power to get things done; a natural leader is able to mobilize others without the whip of formal authority.