I believe in classic ideas. They are timeless. They are forever. There are many fads in management.

Many companies routinely do things that are not important. They fail to prioritize. They get involved with details that don't matter.

A curious mind does not say to consumers "What do you want?" A curious mind understands context, understands behavior, understands spending and spending patterns - the accumulation of a day's purchases, or spending over a week or a year. A curious mind asks the questions that open up the consumer to talk about her latent dissatisfactions, hopes, wishes, and dreams.

Truth is so difficult to hear about. It must be experienced.

Woo your biggest fans. This rule says concentrate your efforts at understanding on the 2 percent of consumers that personally drive 20 percent of sales and invite their friends and colleagues to enjoy you.

Too many companies are happy to have workers to dread working. They have the wrong attitude because they have the wrong leadership.

All companies have many opportunities. Strategy is about allocation of resources and priorities.