The words no Challenger wants to speak out loud. Particularly in a board meeting - "we have fallen a bit behind on.........".

Recent news stories about Challengers losing their thought leadership position to Establishment competitors -…

I am ashamed to say that despite all my desire to stay connected to the novel, I am a very recent convert to Twitter.  My persistent colleague Asher had worn himself out trying to push us into the Twiitersphere. I am now 3 weeks in and loving it. I wrote it off in my mind as the early exposure I had to it was mostly…

I’m starting to wonder if I am addicted to improvising!  I find being on my feet and on the edge of not knowing what is going to happen next incredibly exciting, energising and a rich source of personal creativity.   The flip-side of this is that I find I get bored easily and one of my biggest sources of…

Jeremy Fennell is a man in a hurry. The eCommerce Director for the Dixons Retail Group is acutely aware of the highly competitive nature of the sector he is in. We enjoyed talking to him and it reminded us we still have a lot to learn from the retail sector. They seem to have a more highly developed sense of the need to…

One of the consistent traits of our Challengers is that they have a scale of ambition way beyond what could be expectedfrom the budgets and people at their disposal. In a recent chance meeting with Julia, an old friend and colleague, I was reminded of what that meant when she told me about her recent…

A Gentle Exploration of Growing Old Disgracefully

Since completing the book we haven’t really written much more about this aspect of Challenger life. I expect it is…

I’m usually early for flights and find myself browsing the airport bookshops.  Their primary target is naturally theubiquitous business traveller, suit jacket almost dragged off one shoulder by the heavy shoulder bag.  There he or she is, staring at the eye-boggling assortment of business…

One of the more intriguing aspects of my work is when I encounter organisations who create the pretence of consulting with employees over some significant change, but where the solution has already been designed behind closed doors. This activity is often dressed up in the rhetoric of engagement and…

A couple of Challenger Leaders got talking about contradictions when we interviewed them this month. Phil Chapman, the Chief Marketing Officer at Kerry Foods, has been responsible for a range of Challenger brands across sectors during his career, he speaks powerfully about the importance of a contradiction at the heart of the…