Crawling inside the truth
Welcome Inside
What on earth is this?
Art installation gone mad? Or genius marketing? I'd call it a mix of both.
Crumpler is a luggage brand I've bought almost exclusively since their inception in the 1990s. Born in a garage with a few people on industrial sewing machines turning out messenger bags for cycle couriers, they've never lost their edge. I bought one of their pieces for my last European trip and, honestly, it's the best hand luggage I own.
But this red tent installation that makes you feel like you’re inside someone’s colon? It’s pure audacity. Instead of another boring retail display, they've created an experience that demands you crawl inside to discover their products. It's memorable, completely on-brand — and uncomfortable.
I've worked with countless nonprofits who default to the same tired fundraising and awareness campaigns (like appeals). Meanwhile, those that break through are the ones willing to make people slightly uncomfortable (like sleep-outs, and raising money by flying to every continent) in service of their mission.
Question: How can you get the attention of your target audience in new ways that still feel authentically you?
Conflicting Emotions
A fellow consultant, Jeremy, and I were having a conversation about client emotions.
He works with family businesses, often blue-collar, largely male owners. He meets anger as a common emotion. Anger at financial strictures. Anger at suppliers, staff. Anger at the fact that, after 30 years, they're still tied to their business.
Jeremy's observation: "I think a lot of the anger is sadness. Men process one as the other."
I reflected on this and wondered about the displaced emotions I see amongst my clients. I rarely see overt anger, but I do see tension, frustration, and what I'd call "strategic paralysis" — endless planning discussions that go in loops.
The real emotion isn't confusion about strategy; it's grief about letting go of something that no longer works, or fear about making hard decisions that might upset someone important.
Question: What emotion is your organisation expressing through its strategic behaviour, and what emotion is it actually feeling?
The 18% Lie
I read some bull dust about only 18% of the population being able to think strategically. Well, that made me feel good for a short time, but I don't believe it. I think we all think strategically.
Here's my proof: when I ask CEOs to bring together "20 of their best strategic minds," I don't get 20 executives. I get mid-level leaders who've spotted market trends, front-line staff who've identified operational efficiencies, analysts who've connected dots that senior leadership missed.
Strategic thinking isn't confined to corner offices. It's everywhere.
Watch any parent juggling school pickups, dinner prep, checking in on elderly parents. All while thinking about tomorrow’s meetings. That's strategic thinking. They're constantly envisioning end-points, weighing trade-offs, anticipating obstacles, and adapting plans on the fly.
The 18% figure? Pure marketing nonsense. No credible research supports it.
The difference isn't capability; it's permission and practice. Most organisations accidentally train strategic thinking out of their people by rewarding compliance over curiosity, execution over exploration. The good news? It’s never too late to train it back in. How? By rewarding curiosity and compliance; exploration and execution.
Question: Who in your organisation already thinks strategically and needs to be invited into more strategic conversations?
Heart this if today’s edition resonated. Comment if it challenged you. Both tell me I'm on the right track.
Until next Friday, keep asking the questions that make others (productively) unsettled.
Andrew