Most strategy is, unfortunately, bullshit.

Complicated.
Dense.
Timid.

And more concerned with "optimisation" and "efficiency" than what really matters:

-> Making a big move that's going to change the game.

That's real strategy.

The kind that builds categories of one.
Inspires teams.
Locks-in customers.
Is written about in books.
Turns executives into legends.

...and frankly turns our boring business lives into a true adventure.

(Because I don't know about you, but I'm not here to shuffle papers until I die)

No Bullshit Strategy is how you do it.

If you want to be able to:

- Read markets like a book
- Conjure innovations nobody saw coming
- Build companies with no competitors
- Inspire teams to follow you into the unknown

...then you're in the right place.

Start here 👇

To work with me to develop a strategy like this, or embed these skills into your organisation, learn more here:

👉 www.basicarts.org/work-with-alex/

To get my ultimate strategy document template (that forces you to think the right way), totally free, grab it here:

👉 www.basicarts.org/template

To read No Bullshit Strategy, that helps you master these skills for the price of a cocktail, and which is passed around in the halls of many of the world's top brands:

👉 Go wherever you get your books

For video deep dives on these topics, check out my YouTube:

👉 youtube.com/alexmhsmith

And if you're a small business or want to learn these techniques yourself (or to use on your clients - I don't mind!), then you've gotta see this:

👉 www.strategyshortcutsystem.com

Business is an adventure.
Strategy is the map.

Let’s set out.

Alex

Alex M H Smith

This isn't a post about AI.

This is a post about you.

Moreover, it's a post about how your brain solves problems - a process that's more weird than you think.

It works for me, hope it works for you too.
__

This idea first appeared in richer detail on my newsletter, The Hidden Path.

To subscribe for free, go here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

No Bullsh*t Strategy | Courage, meaning, and creation in business | Speaker | Author

When I do (and don't) use AI

Every night I sit here from 9-10.30pm.

I sit here and read.

(Yes, not the most rock n' roll lifestyle, but hey I have kids under 5 so cut me some slack!)

I don't do this because I love it. I find it pleasant but truth be told I'm not much of an intellectual - I like slobbing out in front of the TV as much as anyone.

No, I do it as a hedge.

You see we are living through an unprecedented moment in history, where intelligence has started to gradually and measurably decline. For decades scientists observed something known as the Flynn Effect, where average IQ rose every passing generation (due to improved nutrition, education etc.)

But in the past 20 years, they've started seeing the opposite - the so called "Reverse Flynn Effect", where IQ in the West has peaked and started to decline.

Why?

Well there are many theories, but at a basic level anyone can see that:

- We're frying our attention spans with social media
- We're not allowing our brains to be bored for one second
- We're outsourcing our thinking to LLMs

...we're doing loads of things which will naturally lead to cognitive decline.

Meanwhile, one of the few activities that actually sharpens our brain is in freefall - reading. In 2023 it was reported that only 16% of American adults now read for interest / pleasure.

(And of course for the rising generations it's even worse)

Is this bad? Sure. It's pretty terrible actually. But on the plus side it also means this:

- The value of those still capable of thinking is going to increase

Remember, rule number 1 of strategy: that which is rare and difficult is also that which is valuable.

If you want to future-proof yourself against whatever's coming next, *don't get stupid*.

As I read each evening:

- My brain starts to work
- New connections get made
- I come up with loads of ideas
- I resolve issues I've been carrying

...and, lest we forget, it is still a leisure activity.

OK it's not quite as seductive as scrolling, but come on, it's not exactly the biggest hardship now is it?

To be capable of leading, you must first be capable of thinking for yourself. Because if you can think for yourself, you can think for others too.

And make no mistake, there will be no shortage of people in the future *begging* you to do that.
___

I'm going to expand on this idea in next week's newsletter. To subscribe free, and learn the art of strategic leadership week-by-week, go here:

https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

If you sat in on my client sessions, you might be surprised at what you saw.

Basically 90% of it?

It's just me sitting there asking dumb questions.

But what's weird is that it isn't just me who does this. Many of the greatest entrepreneurs and leaders do exactly the same thing too.

Here's why.
___

To cultivate these skills weekly, subscribe for my free in-depth essays here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

Be the dumbest person in the room

A "leader" is not just "a senior person in a business".

It's also not someone who's in charge of people.
Or someone with a team.

--- It's actually something very specific - and rare.

Are you one? The slides reveal all...

Hope you enjoy.

(and if you want to actually lead, start here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf )

Are you a leader or a manager?

A little while ago, a woman was asking me for advice regarding her small chain of baby care stores.

(Is that what you call them? Baby care? Baby equipment? Anyway you know, prams, bottles, and stuff)

So I asked her the first obvious question:

"Well, what makes you different?"

She thought for a while, and ultimately landed on the ultimate get-out-clause of differentiation:

"It would have to be our customer service!"

OK, cool, maybe that's true. So I probed a bit deeper, and asked:

"What exactly do you do to have such good customer service?"

At this there was silence. It took her a while to even process the idea that in order to have "exceptional" customer service, you must first DO something execeptional to create it. Otherwise, it's physically impossible, isn't it?

(Note that almost every business I speak to misses this point - she was in great company)

I gave an example:

"Well, for instance do you only shop staff who have been parents already? If you did, then for sure they would be able to provide deeper and more empathetic service than other stores, right?"

But no, she didn't do this. Her hiring practices were normal.

Eventually we established that there wasn't anything in particular that made it special - it just sort of "was" because she believed it to be true.

And this is true of almost EVERY claim EVERY business makes.

And this is why they find sales so difficult.

Because claims don't sell.
Facts sell.

Facts that make the claim self-evident.

Imagine if she did only hire people who'd already had kids. Wouldn't that be a cool story? Wouldn't that provide substance to her claims? Wouldn't that make you want to go to her store to buy your car seat or whatever?

For sure it would.

So your job is simple: create some facts.

Do some undeniable things, just like this, that make your claims superfluous. Creative, thoughtful, surprising things your competitors wouldn't do.

And then watch how much easier it becomes.

(P.S. this taks becomes a lot easier with this: www.basicarts.org/toolkit )

Facts not claims

Strange isn't it:

- Every company claims they're different.
- But we all know that very few truly are.

How is this possible?

Is it delusion?
Is it lies?

No, actually it's more complicated than that. It's a phenomenon we might call "fake differentiation".

And it's probably infecting your company right now.

Read on to spot it instantly.
__

This post is 100% AI-free.

And so is my weekly newsletter on bold strategic thinking, The Hidden Path.

Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

Fake differentiation is everywhere

I was going to call this post "The Coward's Version of Strategy".

But I thought it was a little harsh.

Still, there is truth in that, since most so-called strategy is what happens when you try to win, but without taking any risk.

Is this what you're doing?

Read the slides and have a think.
__

...and if you want to make sure you're never guilty of this again, learn how for free, by subscribing here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

Please stop calling this "strategy"

Most strategy is bullshit.

Quite literally.

Bullshit means “a bunch of fancy words which actually mean nothing at all”, and that sure does describe most strategy you come across.

Fortunately there’s a remedy: the three exercises in these slides.

Check them out, and see how your business stacks up.

__

P.S. These are the kinds of strategy hacks I’m releasing every week in my newsletter, The Hidden Path.

Join 28,000 other creative leaders right here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

How you can tell if a strategy is actually bullshit

In my 15 years doing strategy, I have learned 1 thing:

People *hate* to change.

They hate to be proved wrong.
They hate changing how they do things.
They hate stepping into the unknown.

...and because of this, they kinda hate doing strategy  (though they pretend otherwise).

For a long time, I've sympathised with them.

If you can get away with inertia, then why not?

But I'm not sure this will work for much longer.

Read this to confront yourself - and learn how to love change.

__

This first appeared as a more in depth article in my newsletter.

Subscribe free here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

2026 is the year our comfort ends

I almost never publish my essays on Linkedin.

But I really want people to carve this message deep onto their desks.

So today, I made an exception.
___

If you enjoy, make sure you subscribe to the real thing right here https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

Many people in the business world are about to learn a hard lesson. As a strategy man it pains me to say it, because the lesson is so insanely basic i

Open article: Do what is hard, do what is rare by Alex M H Smith • 5 min read

I heard Roger Martin say that he'd never seen any course or program that was dedicated to creating novel hypotheses.

A great point - and a pretty big problem given that this is how all REAL strategy starts.

So I decided to churn out 5 easy methods for doing just that.

Not saying the ideas will be "right".

But they will be "novel".

And that, ultimately, is what really counts.

___

There's plenty more where this came from via my newsletter that teaches entrepreneurial strategic thinking.

Subscribe for free, here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

True strategy is the art of proving yourself wrong.

Everything you are doing today - everything that's getting you mediocre results - is aligned with what you currently believe to be true.

If you believed something else, you'd be doing something else. But as it is, you are doing exactly what aligns with how you see the world.

And it's not working.

So the only escape, is to prove yourself wrong.

Every great strategic shift, every great idea starts this way. There are no exceptions. You must start with attacking your own beliefs.

When you say "hey, what if things don't really work this way, but actually work that way?", you are on the cusp of something incredible.

And yet for most people, this is the LAST thing they want to do. They will defend their current opinions until the end, because they think they *are* their opinions. They identify with them.

If their opinions die, so do they.

This is why almost nobody does real strategy. They just do self-validation exercises instead, and call them "strategic".

Don't be one of these people.

Change your mind.
See something different.
Have ideas which are new.
___

every week in my newsletter I provoke you to do exactly this. Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

We build high-performing marketing teams that think, act, and perform at a higher level.

“Beloved Brands is the best marketing training that I've ever attended!”

I’ve built brands for the world’s biggest companies—Johnson & Johnson, Coke, and General Mills—and now I help marketing teams develop the capabilities they need to win in today’s competitive landscape.

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If your marketing team is not delivering to your expectations, you're not alone. Our marketing training is designed to equip your team with the tools and strategies to overcome these hurdles and drive stronger results.
 
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Our Beloved Brands marketing training program is hands-on, intensive, challenging, real-world, and designed to elevate the marketer’s performance.

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You will see a difference in how your team thinks, acts, and performs.

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In my marketing career, I led some of the world's most beloved brands at Johnson and Johnson, Coke, General Mills, and Pfizer, rising up to VP of Marketing. I have won numerous awards including Marketing Magazine’s “Marketer of the Year”, BusinessWeek’s best new product, and 4 Effie advertising awards. 

𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 📕 📔 📚 

I wrote my book, Beloved Brands, as the playbook for how to build a brand that consumers will love. 85% of our reviewers give us a 5-star rating.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RY3DNBP

Graham Robertson

Great marketing comes from teams that know how to analyze, think, define, plan, and execute.

That’s the simple logic behind the carousel you’re seeing here — and the foundation of Beloved Brands Marketing Training.

At Beloved Brands Marketing Training, we build marketing capability across five core skills every modern marketer must master:

📊 Brand Analytics
Understanding what’s really driving sales — penetration, buying rate, frequency, and sales per trip — and turning that data into clear insights and recommendations.

🧠 Strategic Thinking
Using structured frameworks to define the brand’s core strength, consumer bond, competitive dynamics, and business situation so teams can focus on the right issues and choices.

🎯 Brand Positioning
Turning features into functional and emotional benefits and creating a motivating, ownable positioning that steers every touchpoint.

📝 Brand Planning
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Making smarter decisions on creative, media, innovation, and omnichannel execution so strategy actually shows up in the market.

Beloved Brands Marketing Training is hands-on, intensive, and designed to build real capability.

Teams leave with sharper thinking, practical tools, and the confidence to operate at a higher level from day one.

If you’re serious about building a stronger marketing team, you can explore our Marketing Training programs here:

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Strong brands are built by teams who think clearly, decide confidently, and execute consistently.

#BelovedBrandsMarketingTraining #MarketingTraining

Graham Robertson 

CMO • Marketing Training & Brand Strategy • Former VP of Marketing • Ex J&J, Coke, General Mills • Founder & CMO of Beloved Brands • We will sharpen your marketing team’s thinking • Author of Beloved Brands

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