BELLWOODS STRATEGY PERSPECTIVES
Ideas, observations, and stories that shape how we think about strategy and clarity.
The Authenticity Trap: Why Authenticity Is an Outcome, Not a Strategy
When brands fail, leaders often diagnose the problem as lacking authenticity. But authenticity isn't something you can capture or achieve—it's a perception your audience grants when your actions align with your stated values. The real disease isn't inauthenticity, it's incoherence. Without clarity about what you stand for, coherence in how you express it, and consistency in how you show up, authenticity remains impossible.
What happens when you stop chasing authenticity and start building structure?
"You cannot build toward authenticity the way you build toward awareness or consideration or revenue. You cannot workshop it, manufacture it, or deploy it."
The 3Rs of Engagement: A Framework for Focus and Clarity
Leaders face constant pressure to engage everywhere—on social media, in partnerships, at conferences, in every conversation. It can create a false binary: either participate or miss out. But strategic engagement requires a framework that shifts from reactive response to deliberate choice. The 3Rs of Engagement (Relevance, Return, Regret) help leaders decide when engagement advances their positioning and when it dilutes it.
What happens when you stop engaging everywhere and start engaging precisely where it counts?
"When you know what you stand for, it becomes easier to know where to stand."
Three Things Champions Do That Everyone Else Talks About
The 2025 World Series proved that completely different strategies can lead to the same destination when executed with discipline. Most organizations understand the fundamentals of strategic success, but understanding and doing are different games. Champions separate themselves not through revolutionary thinking but through relentless commitment to clarity, coherence, and consistency under pressure.
What's the difference between talking about strategy and actually executing it?
"Most organizations have strategy documents. Champions have strategic coherence."
More Thoughts on Hope as a Strategy
Jane Goodall called hope "a crucial survival trait that has sustained our species from the time of our Stone Age ancestors." She understood what great strategists know: hope isn't passive wishful thinking. It's the choice that makes every other strategic choice possible, especially when the path isn't clear and success isn't guaranteed.
What happens when hope moves from soft emotion to strategic foundation?
"When strategy is rooted in hope, in the art of what's possible, not just what's probable, it creates something rare: clarity that sticks and momentum that endures."
The $290,000 Question: When AI Efficiency Becomes Organizational Liability
Deloitte Australia issued a partial refund for a government report filled with fabricated citations and nonexistent sources. We warned about this risk of efficiency replacing expertise in our Beyond Beige AI Usage Framework, but we were too conservative. The Deloitte scandal goes beyond reputational damage to legal liability and breach of client trust.
How do organizations ensure AI accelerates rather than replaces expertise?
"AI can accelerate strategic thinking, but it cannot replace it. Efficiency serves strategy, not the other way around."
Giving Thanks
Gratitude posts will flood feeds this Thanksgiving weekend. Most will look like performance, the need to have your gratitude seen. But what if we moved past performance to practice? Chris MacLeod's book, Beating the Odds, offers a simple but powerful approach: write down three things you're grateful for every morning. Not occasionally. Every day.
What does it take to make gratitude a practice, not a performance?
"Each of us has the personal challenge to focus and work as hard on our attitudes as on anything else. It is not an occasional effort. It must be done with intention at the start of each day and constantly throughout."
The Age of Strategy: When Life Throws Nothing But Fastballs
We're facing nothing but 100-mph fastballs now: AI transforming industries overnight, competitors moving at digital speed, advantages disappearing before ink dries on the plan. Many organizations react defensively, hoping to survive the encounter. But here's what every baseball player knows: the harder the pitch comes in, the harder it can go out.
What if the hardest-thrown pitches create the biggest opportunities?
"In both baseball and business, hard-hit balls produce disproportionate results. While competitors scramble to react to every development, strategic organizations move faster on the right opportunities, generate bigger returns, and build sustainable advantage by choosing battles they're positioned to win."
Let's Stop Debating and Start Talking
In divided times, the loudest voices often drown out the most valuable insights. Real progress happens when people move beyond defending positions to examining them together. Strategy works best as a team sport that brings out quiet voices and curious questions.
What shifts when people choose curiosity over certainty?
"Here’s what we know after decades of helping brands find their voice in noisy markets: the best don't shout the loudest. They listen the closest. They ask better questions.."
Hope is a Strategy
Hope is often written off as naive, especially in the face of complex systems or long odds. But in practice, hope is a strategic choice. It helps leaders stay focused, build momentum, and push through inertia with clarity and purpose.
How does hope become a force that moves strategy forward?
“When hope is combined with strategy, it creates something rare: momentum. Not just activity, but meaningful progress that endures.”
Read the full article on Medium ›
Community Connection: Democracy’s Quiet Backbone
When people work together to solve practical problems like hunger and housing, political labels fade. But these challenges can seem overwhelming to social agencies. Strategy helps bring clarity, narrow choices, and build momentum.
How does strategy create the conditions to build civic capacity?
“Local capacity builds civic capacity. Stronger communities build healthier democracies.”
Read the full article on Medium ›
