Customer Insights & Strategy

These are the resources I find myself recommending most often to leaders who want to understand customers more deeply and turn insight into smart strategy.

Book links go to Bookshop.org, which supports independent booksellers. Books are also available on Amazon and other retailers.

7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy — Hamilton Helmer

Clear framework for understanding what creates durable advantage, not just a plan on paper.

The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder — Peter Zeihan

Geopolitical context that shapes markets, supply chains, and strategic bets leaders need to make.

Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers for Strategic Advantage — Peter Fader

Not all customers deserve equal investment; focus on your most valuable customers for sustainable growth.

Crossing the Chasm — Geoffrey Moore

How to navigate the dangerous gap between early adopters and mainstream customers in technology markets.

Blue Ocean Strategy — W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne

Create uncontested market space by focusing on non-customers and new value propositions.

The Innovator's Dilemma — Clayton Christensen

Why successful companies fail by focusing too much on current customers and missing disruptive opportunities.

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works — A.G. Lafley & Roger Martin

Clear framework for making strategic choices that create competitive advantage and drive growth.

Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman

Essential insights into how customers and executives actually make decisions, not how we think they do.

Nudge: The Final Edition — Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein

Practical applications of behavioral economics to influence customer decisions and improve outcomes.

Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice — Clayton Christensen

Foundational Jobs to be Done framework for understanding what customers are really trying to accomplish.

There are many more strong resources in this space. If you'd like, I can curate a personalized list based on your role and goals, or summarize these for your leadership team.

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