Outthinker

Phil Le-Brun is bringing 30+ years of experience at McDonald's to our London Networking and Roundtable as a speaker on November 3. He served as its international CIO, leading technology delivery across 120+ countries. Today he is Executive in Residence at Amazon Web Services and the author of The Octopus Organization. His session of the same name is interactive and shaped around what attendees bring. Topics on the table include why most transformation efforts fail, the organizational antipatterns that undermine strategy, innovation, and execution, and how clarity, ownership, and learning can replace permission. He takes the floor in London at our CSO In-Person Roundtable & Networking this November, a side event to the Thinkers50 London Summit. Open to Outthinker members and their CSO guests. Non-members can apply. Full details in https://luma.com/4a8nlnzi

Most strategy teams work hard to be different. Few ask whether different actually makes them better. Ron Johnson knows the difference better than almost anyone. As head of merchandising at Target, he partnered with architect Michael Graves to prove good design didn't have to be expensive — a bet that reshaped the entire home category. Then Steve Jobs called, and Johnson went on to build the Apple Store from an empty warehouse floor, inventing the Genius Bar along the way. This is what we discussed with Ron on the latest episode of the Outthinkers Podcast, "Apple Store Architect: Why Most Companies Confuse Different With Better." His core distinction: "Prefer is different and better." Being different is easy. Being preferred means customers choose you because you're genuinely more valuable, not just distinct. Swipe through for three takeaways every strategy leader can apply.

We're glad to share that Caroline Webb is joining our London roundtable as a speaker on November 3. Caroline is an executive coach, an economist, and a former McKinsey Partner. Thinkers50 named her one of the world's top 50 executive coaches. Her new book, Leadership Intelligence, was an instant national bestseller. Her session is live coaching, built around the situations strategy and transformation leaders run into most often. Topics on the table include walking into a complex situation assuming you're partly wrong, surfacing the doubts your team won't say out loud, and making change stick. Everything she teaches is rooted in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics. She takes the floor at our CSO In-Person Roundtable & Networking - London 2026 this November, a side event to the Thinkers50 London Summit. Full details: https://luma.com/4a8nlnzi

Jeff Walker treats every question his strategy office asks as a tax on the business. In the new Chief Strategy Officer Podcast episode, the Senior VP of Corporate Strategy at BraunAbility tells Kaihan Krippendorff how he tests that. His strategy office is a team of one, and his role also covers M&A. What the conversation covers: - Two tests for what belongs at the center: scale and duration - The check before any request goes out: what choice could this change? - Why his default is to bring in outside help before building in-house - His warning to strategists: "Don't mistake curiosity for value creating results." - The parenting parallel: making someone more capable while becoming less needed Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform.

"You could be different, but that doesn't mean better." Ron Johnson — the architect behind the Apple Store — has watched companies confuse the two for years. Take Walmart and Target. Price a toothpaste SKU at an odd size, in an odd quantity, and nobody can calculate the price-per-ounce to compare it. Different? Yes. Better? No. Watch the full conversation, "Apple Store Architect: Why Most Companies Confuse Different With Better," on the Outthinkers podcast.

The hardest thing for a leader to abandon usually isn't a failed idea. It's a good idea that no longer fits the strategy. In this week's newsletter, Kaihan revisits a story from a conversation with Ron Johnson, co-creator of the Apple Store. Johnson and Steve Jobs had already spent months designing Apple's first retail store when Jobs reframed the Mac as the hub of a person's whole digital life. The store no longer made sense. Jobs was frustrated by how much work would be lost. Then he reversed course: "Everything great I've done, I had the courage to hit the rewind button." Apple delayed the launch six months and rebuilt the store around the new strategy. The piece argues that a real strategic shift should force leaders to revisit decisions made under the old one — not just adjust them to fit. The better question isn't how much has already been invested. It's whether you'd still choose this path if you were starting fresh today. Scroll through for the full breakdown, or read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/dhxaSwsb

"What separates good business coaches from truly masterful ones? Is it the questions we ask? The breakthroughs we create? The results our clients achieve? Or is it something else entirely?" That's the question Kaihan Krippendorff puts to Sharn Rayner in our next Outthinker Coaches Network live session, on September 30 at 2pm ET, where she takes us behind her book, Behind the Coaching Breakthroughs: What Master Business Coaches Do Differently. Sharn has spent thirty-plus years coaching CEOs and leadership teams across four continents, and as a former CEO and board director herself, she's sat on both sides of the coaching conversation. We'll explore how master coaches create lasting breakthroughs, demonstrate real ROI, and stay differentiated in an AI-shaped world. If you're an experienced business coach, come meet the community we're building. 📅 September 30, 2pm ET Register: https://luma.com/7zzlskni

Ron Johnson pushes back on one of Michael Porter's classic ideas. Differentiation isn't the goal, he argues — being preferred is. You can be different and still lose. He joined us on the Outthinkers podcast to unpack two transformations that prove it: bringing affordable design to Target, and building the Apple Store from an empty warehouse floor for Steve Jobs. Ron walks through: - A $150 tea kettle in a London shop window that led Michael Graves to design for Target - Why he told Jobs to stop chasing Microsoft's users and go after Americans who didn't own a computer yet - The logic behind putting Apple Stores in malls, not electronics chains - Why the Genius Bar sits at the center of the store instead of hidden behind glass His new book, Shop Different, is out now. Listen on your favorite podcast platform: Outthinkers Podcast, Apple Store Architect: Why Most Companies Confuse Different With Better Thanks to LHH for this episode.

Our Outthinker members are heading to London. On November 3, what began as an informal London CSO happy hour becomes a full roundtable and networking afternoon at Wallacespace Spitalfields a side event to the Thinkers50 London Summit & Leaders50 Awards Gala 2026. Two working sessions anchor the day: one on leadership intelligence, one on building adaptive, distributed organizations — the kind that can move like an octopus, not a bureaucracy. In between: Rapid-Round Challenge Forums, where members bring a live strategy problem to the group and leave with a sharper answer. The afternoon closes with networking, drinks and canapés. Open to Outthinker members and their CSO guests. Non-members can apply, pending approval. Full details — https://luma.com/4a8nlnzi

Most machine vision systems get specified around one question: can it detect the defect? Kaihan Krippendorff argues in Vision Systems Design that's no longer enough — "Proximity and Decision-Making: Redefining Machine Vision in Industry 4.0." The examples land fast. A dimensional defect can trace back to a tool that started wearing earlier. An assembly issue can start with a placement inconsistency upstream. Deloitte's 2025 survey found 92% of manufacturing executives expect smart manufacturing to drive competitiveness within three years. 5 questions the piece says to ask before specifying a vision system: – What decision must it support? – Where does the signal first become visible? – Is it detecting an event or a pattern? – What response should follow? – What variation should it tolerate? One of those five is already changing where teams place inspection points. Read the full piece: https://lnkd.in/dBJSGF24