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This edition is brought to you by BlueAlpha

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger, the German-born American diplomat, shaped US foreign policy for decades. He fled Nazi Germany as a teen, served in the US Army, and rose to become Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford. Known for his realpolitik approach, Kissinger played key roles in opening relations with China, détente with the Soviet Union, and ending US involvement in Vietnam. "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac," he once quipped. His legacy is complex. Praised for diplomatic achievements, he's also criticized for actions in Cambodia, Chile, and elsewhere. Kissinger remained active in his later years, writing books and advising leaders. He died in 2023 at 100, leaving a lasting imprint on global affairs.

Key Lessons from Henry Kissinger:

• On resilience: "A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure."

• On pragmatism: "There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full."

• On vision: "If you don't know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere."

• On leadership: "The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." Kissinger's bold initiatives often broke new ground.

Read More.

Company: H&M

H&M, short for Hennes & Mauritz, was founded in 1947 by Erling Persson in Västerås, Sweden. Initially named "Hennes" (Swedish for "hers"), the store sold women's clothing. In 1968, Persson acquired hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, expanding into men's clothing and changing the name to Hennes & Mauritz. The company's first store outside Sweden opened in Norway in 1964. H&M's international expansion accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s, entering key markets like the UK and Germany. By 2000, H&M had over 600 stores globally. Today, H&M Group operates over 4,700 stores across 75 markets and reported sales of SEK 223 billion (about $21 billion).

Key Lessons from H&M:

• On simplicity: Keep it basic. H&M's success stems from a straightforward concept - affordable, trendy clothes. No frills. No complications. Just clothes people want at prices they can afford. It's not rocket science, but it works.

• On pricing: Psychological pricing works. H&M often prices items just below round numbers (e.g., $19.99 instead of $20). It's an old trick, but it still works. Sometimes, the classics are classics for a reason.

Read More.

Marketing That Moves Itself

Most measurement tools stop at telling you what happened. BlueAlpha tells you what to do next.

BlueAlpha unifies MMM, incrementality testing, and AI-driven optimization into a single continuous feedback loop. Models feed actions, actions feed models, and growth compounds.


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Brands using BlueAlpha have cut CAC, saved millions in wasted spend, and unlocked double-digit growth within weeks, powered by the same team that scaled Tesla’s marketing systems.


Your marketing is capable of more. Get on BlueAlpha. Make it happen.

Accelerants

High-performance tool

⎯

The Petrie Multiplier

Statistically, in a large group, it’s easy for the majority to avoid identity slurs.

While, members of the minority group receive an underestimated amount of harassment.

This occurs because there are more potential givers than receivers of harassment.

Insights

Tactical reads

⎯

> When exploring the relationship between text, purpose and ritual
Text, Telos, and Ritual (Read it here)

> When examining the nature and function of rituals
What Is Ritual? (Read it here)

1 question

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

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Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

Faster Than Normal is a ‘state' of being’ rather than an outcome. Outlier performance requires continuous, compounded improvement. We’re your partner on this journey.

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