Articles, Book Picks & Resources

These are my January, 2012 picks. Two great reads to lift your thinking to a higher track.  – Craig

All Marketers Tell Stories

by Seth Godin

While most business books have one useful page for every 10 pages you read, Seth Godin packs every page with thought provoking and enlightening examples.  You’ll learn why stories are important, what a good story is (and isn’t), and how to build a great story for your business – or yourself.  From my perspective, a great story is the final expression of a business strategy that works, and is an effective expression of your difference and advantage.  Try telling your story. Doing this will help you understand whether your strategy is a good one or not.  If the story is uninteresting, confusing or can’t be repeated, your strategy is probably off track.

How the Growth Outliers Do It

by Rita Gunther McGrath
Harvard Business Review, January-February, 2012, pages 110-116

This article succinctly shows that companies that prosper over the long term are “both more stable and more innovative than their competition.“  This is the summary of results focusing on the 8% of companies in their research that achieved at least 5% revenue growth in each of the 5 consecutive years from 2005 through 2009.  The total number of companies in their research is over 4,750.  Having driven over $1 billion in new revenue growth, I can personally vouch Ms. McGrath’s research is right on the mark.