The most popular Growth Needle posts of 2023

A short look at the three most popular posts of the year and the lessons you can take into 2024.

I’m spending the last couple weeks of the year enjoying the unusually warm winter—without snow—here in Vancouver. 

This email is the last edition of the Growth Needle for 2023 and I wanted to take a few minutes to send you the three most popular posts of the year and why it is worth re-reading them.

I moved this newsletter to Substack a few months ago and I have been loving the new features, including the audio recording of each edition (check that out above).

Here are the three most popular posts since moving the newsletter to Substack:

What the demise of Sears teaches us about strategy

Sears was fantastic at innovation, putting their mail order catalogs on the back of trains and delivering goods to the forgotten segment of American farmers. 

By 1925, they disrupted their mail-order business by building large retail stores, perfectly suited for the rise in auto ownership.

Unfortunately, they failed to innovate a third time and never became Amazon or Walmart, despite having all the ingredients to do either.

This post is all about identity and the role it plays in helping teams make strategic decisions. This was my favorite post of the entire year.

Are you noticing the shifting ground underneath your feet? [Growth Needle™]

This post covers how the cable industry failed to see the ripples of changes when Netflix released House of Cards, why expiration labels on products don’t make sense and why Italian fashion brands are stuck in the past.

Strategy is about the future and it requires noticing how the world around you is changing, a common theme throughout all the weekly editions.

Why Coca-Cola is the number one employer of choice in America

This post was all about talent, a hot topic for any organization today. Even the companies engaged in layoffs need to figure out how to retain their existing talent and do more with less.

Coca-Cola has done a fantastic job at attracting and retaining talent and there’s plenty of lessons for any organization, even if you’re not managing 80,000 employees globally.

As the year closes, take a minute to think about 2024 and what you and your team will do differently. 

I wish you a happy new year and talk in 2024.

Ruben