Hardcore Zen

Bret Parker professional experience

Walgreens is trying to squeeze new growth and value out of messaging that is more than 400 years old. And its strategic narrative for the “central role” of retail pharmacy in the United States is no different than that of retail pharmacies in Ghana, West Africa.

A dinosaur in a fur coat is not a mammal

The current economics of the drug market have stopped making sense

As a general rule, you can’t “fix” an embedded economic system, whether that economic system orbits around Starbucks, Nike, UnitedHealthcare or the U.S. Congress

The pharmaceutical industry needs a new strategic model for success.

Cost-cutting logic is devouring the pharmaceutical industry. The new “turnaround skill” is market innovation.

The traditional "business model" approach, which focuses on operational efficiency, is failing to address the deeper need for bigger ideas and smarter strategies. New growth curves (and job security) works with a different ‘turn-around skill’ altogether.

Shareholder value is not just about business performance. It’s also about story performance.

"We're talking mind blowing stuff about strategy, opportunity, maybe even how we see the world....."

Companies like Verily and OpenAI are failing to address the fundamental issues in the healthcare system, particularly the dominance of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The author, John G. Singer, argues that these companies are focused on technological solutions that are unlikely to succeed without disrupting the existing power structure of the healthcare system, which is controlled by PBMs.

Uses Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking style as a metaphor to illustrate how the pharmaceutical industry needs to move away from outdated, formulaic strategies and embrace a more creative, character-driven approach. When it comes to commercial model innovation, drug companies must rethink their storytelling by creating unique, original narratives.