Standing Orders
General Strategic · Internal
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Be unreasonable.

If the gesture is in scope, it isn't a gesture.

The counterpart to 1% more. Where 1% is constant and small, the unreasonable gesture is rare and disproportionate.

The Sunday call before the Monday committee appearance, made because we knew it mattered, not because anyone asked.

Most firms do neither texture nor gesture systematically. We can do both.

  1. 01Once a quarter, per client, do something nobody asked for.
  2. 02The gesture isn't transactional. If you're calculating ROI, it isn't a gesture.
  3. 03Look for the moment, not a slot in the calendar.
  4. 04Examples to steal: pre-meeting Sunday call, unrequested memo after a relevant news cycle, hand-written note after the big day.