Luke's Columns

Some would say the business lunch is dead. I don’t agree: for me, it is remains a favourite ritual. Perhaps I enjoy lunch because I’m in the trade. I love to try new restaurants, judging their decor, menu, service, food and ambience not just as a customer, but as…

Occasionally a book title can encapsulate an important truth in just a few words. The new work by Nicholas Lemann, Transaction Man: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream, does just that. It tells the story of how, since the 1970s, the US economy…

Which genre of fiction should entrepreneurs read? Thrillers? Romance? Literary? Westerns? It seems to me there is one obvious type of novel that should hold special appeal to those who build business empires — science fiction. Of course, I’m biased — when I was a teenager in the 1970s,…

The internet has transformed life in the past quarter of a century: from social networks to online shopping, it has made communications faster, easier, cheaper and more dispersed. However, the digital revolution is not all good. Most of us are much more distracted than we used to be. Our…

When I started working as a junior executive in 1983, there were set rituals and trappings that went with the role. You wore a suit and tie, you carried papers in a briefcase, you had a business card. You enjoyed a defined benefit pension and stayed with a firm…

Business is impossible without trust. Organisations cannot function if every action must be based on a legal contract, accompanied by suspicion of intent. There needs to be a presumption of trust and a sense of responsibility among management and staff towards customers, suppliers, investors, lenders and other stakeholders. However,…

A recent item on National Public Radio in America suggested that talking to strangers makes you happier. I think there is truth in this idea. Moreover, I believe it’s a knack that can be invaluable in business, too. Most of us avoid conversations with strangers — because we’re shy,…

Most brands are destined to disappear — even apparently strong ones. Why do so few endure? The ones that last might be category pioneers, building powerful, first-mover consumer loyalty. The goodwill towards them feels almost eternal; Gillette and Kellogg’s both meet that definition. Once established, such brands possess a…

I have been reading the business plans of new ventures for more than 30 years, and while the presentations have become a lot slicker, I’m not sure the underlying propositions have improved much. PowerPoint and the rise of venture-capital culture have a certain amount to answer for on that….

The recent BBC documentary series on Margaret Thatcher revealed that she had a poem by her desk: No Enemies, written by Charles Mackay. This mocks the person who claims to have no foes — for, according to the poet, such a “coward” has neither “mingled in the fray” nor…