<p>Brand and corporate strategist Alex M H Smith shares insights about his upbringing, values, and the journey that led him to become a contrarian thinker in the fields of advertising, marketing, and ultimately strategy. He discusses the challenges of defining personal values, the cultural observations he made during his time in America, and how his contrarian nature shaped his career path. Alex emphasizes the importance of intuition in strategy, the limitations of AI compared to human creativity, and the joy of finding flow in one’s being and work.</p><p></p><p>Watch on YouTube: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/7OhSP3HFYNQ">https://youtu.be/7OhSP3HFYNQ</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Alex M H Smith Contact Information &amp; Links</strong></p><p>Website: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://basicarts.org">https://basicarts.org</a></p><p>LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-m-h-smith/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-m-h-smith/</a></p><p>YouTube: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/@AlexMHSmith">https://www.youtube.com/@AlexMHSmith</a></p><p>Instagram: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/alexmhsmith/">https://www.instagram.com/alexmhsmith/</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Book References</strong></p><p>As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Therefore I earn a small commission on purchases from the following Amazon links–and every bit helps support this channel!</p><p><strong>No Bullsh*t Strategy: A Founder’s Guide to Gaining Competitive Advantage with a Strategy That Actually Works</strong></p><p>By Alex M H Smith</p><p>(paperback: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/4qbdzME">https://amzn.to/4qbdzME</a> | kindle: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/4qbdzME">https://amzn.to/4qbdzME</a>)</p><p></p><p><strong>Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant</strong></p><p>by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne</p><p>(hardcover: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/4rVjqaA">https://amzn.to/4rVjqaA</a> | paperback: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/4pEzUlY">https://amzn.to/4pEzUlY</a>)</p><p></p><p><strong>The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World</strong></p><p>by Ian McGilchrist</p><p>(hardcover: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/48O8G5a">https://amzn.to/48O8G5a</a> | paperback: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amzn.to/48O8G5a">https://amzn.to/48O8G5a</a>)</p><p></p><p><strong>Video Reference</strong></p><p>Short video of Rory Sutherland on post-rationalization:</p><p><strong>Why Creativity Embraces Contradiction</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgpxtauJyY&amp;t=37s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgpxtauJyY&amp;t=37s</a></p><p></p>