This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life)

by Seth Godin

Here are some change agents through the ages: • The car opened the door for fast food restaurants. • Craigslist destroyed the business model for many newspapers. Spinoffs created a new communications layer that dramatically decreased public prostitution. • MTV enabled the rise of rap music by decreasing the power of local radio stations. • Home improvement TV shows led to the popularity of the McMansion. • Birth control transformed the workforce and led to the rise of convenience foods. • 800 numbers and the credit card transformed any organization that dealt with customers. • The smart phone surfaced information about travelers and drivers, enabling Uber to transform the taxi industry. • Casual Friday started a cascade that led to a significant shift in the creation and sale of the clothes we wear every day. • The elevator permitted real estate developers to create skyscrapers and remade the idea of downtown, the same way that work from home is undoing much of that density. • Junk bonds, hedge funds, and other financial instruments led to the rise and fall of big box stores, supermarket chains, and other leveraged businesses. • AI is transforming farming. • The coming reset in the price of carbon will transform just about everything.