Choosing your strategy (with Seth Godin)

Read the full transcript here.

What are the differences between tactics and strategies? Is the speed of growth of a company the main thing business school graduates should consider when trying to figure out where to launch their careers? How much optimism or pessimism should strategies include? How can we gain footholds for change in systems that are very strongly self-reinforcing? Is it possible to change a system's side effects without changing its purpose? What are the differences between strategies and visions? Is it better to follow a map or a compass? If you buy a lottery ticket and win big, was it a good decision? What are some of the most common mistakes leaders make when developing a strategy? How simple or complex should strategies be? What are the benefits of being able to speak a strategy out loud? How can leaders know when to modify or even abandon a strategy? How can entrepreneurs know if their starting strategy is a good one? To what extent is creativity required for good strategy design? What are the three big principles of marketing? Is all marketing unethical? Is it unethical to market a placebo? How are status and affiliation related? What is the single most important thing a team can do when developing a strategy?

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, speaker, and teacher. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 21 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His book, This Is Marketing, was an instant bestseller in countries around the world. His new book, out in 2024, is This Is Strategy. Though renowned for his writing and speaking, Seth also founded two companies: Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!). He's credited as the inventor of email marketing (the good kind). He has given five TED talks, including two that rank among the most popular of all time. In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame; and in 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well. He might be the only person in both. Learn more about him at his website, sethgodin.com, read his blog posts at seths.blog, or pick up his most recent book, This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans.

Staff

• Spencer Greenberg — Host / Director
• Josh Castle — Producer
• Ryan Kessler — Audio Engineer
• Uri Bram — Factotum
• WeAmplify — Transcriptionists

Music

• Broke for Free
• Josh Woodward
• Lee Rosevere
• Quiet Music for Tiny Robots
• wowamusic
• zapsplat.com

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