The Library.

In the world of business strategy, it's easy to get lost in a sea of acronyms and complex models. While these frameworks have their place, the most powerful tool is often the simplest one.

Imagine a perfectly disciplined company. Employees know their roles, follow processes to the letter, and operate with maximum efficiency. In theory, this is the ideal—a well-oiled machine poised for success.

Market research has been my passion for more than 50 years, and my journey began in 1969 as a junior marketing executive at Dunlop. I remember well my very first assignment which was researching the market for dock bay seals.

Marketing is hard enough without shooting yourself in the foot. Yet, many businesses—especially eager startups and overwhelmed small teams—fall into the trap of using disastrously bad strategy frameworks (or worse, no framework at all).

Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, is one of the most influential voices in branding today. A fixture on podcasts and at marketing conferences, his opinions carry weight—and one of his most provocative arguments is that traditional brands are on borrowed time.

In a recent World’s Greatest Business Thinkers podcast with Nick Hague, Kirstin Ferguson combined psychology, neuroscience, and real-world examples to show how blind spots damage relationships, stifle growth, and skew leadership.