The starting point is to create a qualitative understanding of market drivers. You need to get into the head of the consumer and be able to tell her story. It is both art and science. The purpose of the market map is to define dissatisfactions, hopes, dreams and fears. Winning solutions respond to the distinct and specific needs of a group of consumers.

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

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.

Time is a big enemy. Companies have a tendency to drift and to do what was successful yesterday. CEOs need to set a high goal, enforce a time-based output scheme and stay connected all the way down in their organization. They have to do this sincerely every day, everywhere.

Original research starts all inspiration. Get inside the head of the consumer. Understand their needs, hopes and dreams. Deliver to their expectation. Have your team do the work. They will then have the framework for the solution. If they believe and they understand, the results will be their results.

Get out of the office. Roam the frontline. Be observant. Hold your people accountable for creating the new narrative, a new story, in which your customers are the most important "characters". Because, you know, they really are.

For me, it's often about consumption behavior. I focus my energy on understanding the heavy user. They are "odd" but hold opportunity. I ask: how do they use the product, what motivates them, how can we clone them.