While some CEOs are debating strategy in boardrooms, a few are quietly rewriting the rules of their business, and the gap is widening every day.

The landscape, in this Trump era, has fundamentally shifted the approach. 

While many FMCG CEOs are still playing yesterday's game: cutting costs, chasing incremental growth, managing risk, a new vanguard is emerging. 

These leaders are mastering three critical capabilities, those which Tech CEO's are fluent in and which some of their FMCG predecessors used in reshaping entire industries. These are making a comeback:

1. Scaled shared economies as competitive levers: using massive scale to create cost advantages and customer value that competitors simply cannot match.
2. Entrepreneurial talent over traditional executives: hiring builders and doers who accomplish more with less, rather than cautious managers who need large budgets and teams. 
3. Operational excellence through systematic thinking; building organisations where size becomes an advantage through intelligent processes and culture that compound across the entire operation.

If you are noticing a pause in hiring, this is potentially why.

The Scale Advantage

Scaled Economies Shared represent a fundamental reimagining of how value is created and distributed. 

Amazon and Costco exemplify this principle perfectly, they don't just sell products, they orchestrate ecosystems where massive scale becomes a competitive lever, crushing competition through shared savings and enhanced customer value.

The mechanics are beautiful and elegant: as volume increases, unit costs plummet, enabling these companies to pass savings to customers while maintaining margins. This creates a virtuous cycle. Lower prices attract more customers, greater volume drives down costs further, and the competitive moat deepens. Competitors simply cannot match the value proposition.

But here's what separates the winners from the wishful thinkers: execution. 

The CEOs who master scaled economies shared,  they don't just understand the theory, they build organisations capable of flawless operational delivery at massive scale.

The Talent Imperative: Beyond Passion to Mastery

Yesterday, I witnessed a revealing exchange between a 37-year-old CEO and a 60-year-old chairman discussing talent acquisition. 

The CEO emphasised passion, the energy and dynamism that drive immediate results. The chairman spoke about mastery, the deep craft expertise that transforms passion into sustained value creation.

If the deliciousness of pizza is the ‘passion’, then the time spent in stretching the dough is the value creation without which the pizza has no deliciousness. 

Stretching the dough takes time and energy, but the taste depends on it.

As I listened, I realised both their perspectives are essential, but the most successful leaders today are straddling both simultaneously.

They seek talent that combines entrepreneurial fire with operational excellence. Individuals who can stretch the organisational ‘dough’ with patience and precision to create something genuinely valuable over time.

The only talent making it through the door at leading companies are builders, doers, and contrarians who operate with speed, frugality, and laser focus on customer priorities. 

These CEOs have become alchemists, transforming limited resources into exponential value.

Lessons from the Transformation Masters - Some things never go out of fashion

Cut Costs And Pass Savings On To Customers

From financial services organisations like Wise to Swiss watchmakers like Swatch, and through to Fast food chains, the pattern replicates with those willing to learn from 

The Lindy Effect. The longer something has existed, for example, a good idea, the longer it will exist. This is not the same as continuing to do something which worked once but hasn't worked for a while.

These were forward thinkers, and their ideas are as relevant today as they were in prior years - ready for your adaptation.

Wise (money transfer company)

Pools its resources and technology to offer the most competitive exchange rates, which it then passes on to customers. A far cry from what banks do.

Swatch

Consider how Nicholas Hayek revolutionised the Swiss and the global Watch industry in the 1980s. Facing insolvency, the Swiss manufacturing company was being decimated by Japanese competitors using quartz technology and mass production to dramatically undercut prices. Rather than retreating to luxury-only positioning, Hayek completely reimagined the marketplace.

He challenged his designers to create a watch matching the $40 Japanese price point without compromising Swiss craftsmanship. This led to breakthrough innovations like the plastic watch strap. More importantly, the marketing experts strategically redefined watches as fashion accessories rather than only timepieces.

The "S" in Swatch denoted "second watch," complete with multiple colours, designs, and faces. The result: a four-decade transformation that redefined an entire industry. We still have plastic straps attached to our most technologically advanced watches today. 

Could Swatch as a case study be the antidote to the Trumpian Tariff Tempest?

 It demonstrates the power of human ingenuity (yes, when compelled to), and when combined with craftsmanship, quality and care, it can endure and provide value indefinitely. The gift that keeps giving.

And without being a scourge on our planet like the plethora of quick and cheap, mass-produced consumables like 'Fast Fashion'.

Chili's

Kevin Hoffman at Chili's understood operational excellence at the granular level. Through employee listening sessions nationwide, he discovered their $500 jar of pickles was both expensive and difficult to open. 

While market research is important, rather than commissioning extensive market research, Hoffman decided to move fast, trusted his leadership team's collective industry experience. They taste-tested burgers with their expensive versus the cheaper pickles and found no discernible taste difference.

The decision was immediate: swap the pickle.

But here's the crucial insight: 

Hoffman reinvested those savings into overall food quality and customer experience. Better seasoning, hotter food, improved service, all without price increases. 

The result: 70% higher sales on their triple-dipper offer in 2024 versus 2023. 

Customers and competitors noticed and are still talking about it.

Domino's

Domino's CEO Russell Weiner faced a different challenge in 2009, widespread public distrust post-GFC and their own declining business because, frankly, their pizza wasn't good. 

His response was radical transparency:

Openly acknowledging they had lost their way and that cost-cutting had compromised the product customers once loved.

Weiner embraced both transparency and intelligent cost reduction. He eliminated absurd inefficiencies like their three-step box-folding process: unfolding boxes, then refolding them, then folding them again. 

The solution was obvious: fold the box once after placing the pizza inside. These operational improvements, combined with genuine product enhancement, drove a remarkable turnaround. 

No genius required.

The New Vanguard: Doers Who Deliver

In the current high-stakes environment, the talent profile has fundamentally shifted. 

CEOs no longer want cautious strategists (Marketers) or safe executors (HR)  who require large budgets and sizable teams to accomplish what entrepreneurs achieve ‘on the sniff of an oily rag’ - as I call it.

The world and the future (as has long been the case) belong to individuals who dissect problems to there core and reconstruct solutions with precision and boldness. 

These professionals refuse to be paralysed by bureaucracy or failure. They possess entrepreneurial fire and a relentless drive to act decisively when resources are scarce and budgets are tight.

This type of talent doesn't wait for permission or perfect conditions. They identify opportunities on the faintest hint of potential and move with urgency. They think inversely, challenging assumptions about stated customer wants and uncovering latent needs customers cannot articulate. 

They innovate not because it's mandated, but because they feel a profound responsibility to solve real problems and create genuine value.

Marketers, are you focused on how you can be frugal - do more with the budget you have or lamenting some other factor outside your control?

HR professionals, is your job to get the lowest fee from a Recruiter, or get the highest calibre, business value-adding talent from a Search process?

CEOs who understand scaled economies shared recognise these individuals as transformation linchpins. As the architects, speed catalysts, and authenticity preservers, they are and create the company culture to allow them to thrive. Without them, even visionary strategies falter.

The Barbell Strategy: Serving Extremes While Others Fight for the Middle

The most successful scaled economies shared companies often employ a barbell strategy. 

Which is simultaneously serving the low-end market and the premium market while avoiding the overcrowded middle. This isn't contradictory; it's contrarian. 

Leading Investors know about the Contrarians. You can’t get better than the average returns without doing something different to the average. This needs contrarian thinking.

Most businesses compete for average customers in the middle market, creating commoditization and margin pressure.

By serving price-sensitive customers through operational excellence and scale advantages, while simultaneously delivering premium experiences for customers willing to pay more, companies create multiple revenue streams and reduce competitive vulnerability.

 Building Culture That Scales

To unleash this power, organisations must forge cultures rewarding speed, transparency, and relentless optimisation. 

This isn't about empty slogans, but it's rewiring corporate DNA to embrace a shared economy ethos where every action drives scalable, sustainable dominance.

Clear vision and strong values serve as anchors amid rapid change, ensuring all efforts align with the company's mission. As former Unilever CEO Paul Polman reminds us, sustainability remains non-negotiable - no business can flourish, certainly not for the long term, while the planet suffers.

 The CEO Imperative (Suggestions)

📍 Raise the Bar Relentlessly 

Insist that every new hire raises the bar, as Amazon does. It’s not enough to be good; talent must be exceptional and bring extraordinary ability to the table. This ensures that talent at both extremes of the barbell (high performers for premium innovation and resourceful doers for value execution) is onboarded, fueling growth at both ends of the market.

📍Hire talent who demonstrate an entrepreneurial mindset

Those who challenge the status quo, think inversely and are comfortable with ambiguity and risk. These individuals are the contrarians and builders who can thrive in fast-moving environments and can drive innovation at scale.

📍Build a Proactive, Inclusive Talent Pipeline

Move beyond reactive hiring by constantly scouting and engaging diverse talent, including nontraditional backgrounds and local insights. This broadens the talent base, bringing in fresh perspectives that align with the barbell strategy’s need to serve diverse customer segments and innovate rapidly.

For Talent: Positioning Yourself for the New CEO Imperative

📍Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Go beyond your resume. Cultivate problem-solving skills, resilience, and a bias for action. Show that you can identify unarticulated customer needs and innovate without waiting for perfect conditions. CEOs want builders and contrarians who act decisively and create value independently.

📍Embrace Speed and Execution

Demonstrate your ability to move quickly and deliver results. CEOs value talent that can pivot, execute ideas rapidly, and overcome obstacles without relying on large budgets or extensive resources. Being a doer who gets things done is a critical differentiator.

📍Align with Vision and Values, but Challenge the Status Quo

Understand and embody the company’s core vision and values as your anchor, but don’t shy away from bringing bold, unconventional ideas to the table. CEOs need talent who are both aligned and willing to push boundaries to create a competitive edge.

Conclusion

The playbook is clear and simple

Harness scaled economies shared, deploy entrepreneurial talent, and build organisations that use size as a lever rather than a burden.