One Must-Read Article

The Top 5 Carter Reports Articles You Read in 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to share the top business growth articles that resonated most with you this year. Based on analytics from both my website and newsletter, here are the five articles that captured your attention—and sparked the most conversations about strategy, leadership, and sustainable growth.

1. The Ten Commandments of Business Failure

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This piece struck a chord by flipping the script on how we think about success. Drawing from Don Keough’s classic book (and Warren Buffett’s reading list), I explored why the best leaders study failure as much as success. The ten commandments—from “quit taking risks” to “be afraid of the future”—aren’t flashy management theory. They’re good common sense that too many businesses still violate. What makes failure interesting is that it usually comes back to leadership choices, not just strategy mistakes.

2. Opportunity in the Midst of Adversity

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Uncertainty isn’t going anywhere—it’s become the backdrop for most of our business activity. This article challenged the instinct to hunker down and wait for clarity, instead asking: where are the opportunities others aren’t seeing? I outlined five specific places to look: under served customers, stalled competitors, talent on the move, strategic partnerships, and using quiet moments for strategic resets. The big idea: adversity shakes the tree, and growth-minded businesses collect the fruit.

3. How To Overcome Strategy Myopia

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Even successful businesses can fall victim to strategy myopia—that dangerous tendency to focus so much on immediate details that you miss the bigger picture. I walked through the warning signs (short-term metrics dominating, customer feedback drowning out market signals) and the consequences (flat growth, missed opportunities, competitive disadvantage). Drawing on Seth Godin’s work, I emphasized one critical takeaway: we obsess about getting better answers but spend almost no time asking better questions.

4. 12 Universal Barriers to Sustainable Growth

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This diagnostic piece tackled a paradox I keep hearing: we live in an age of unprecedented opportunity, yet so many companies struggle to grow sustainably. I identified twelve universal barriers—from weak business models and unclear positioning to team dysfunction and infrastructure inadequacy. The challenge isn’t usually how to grow. It’s identifying and overcoming the predictable barriers that show up along the way. Think of this as your growth checklist.

5. Five Strategic Planning Principles for Uncertain Times

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Traditional strategic planning doesn’t work in today’s fast-moving world. In this article, I laid out five principles for planning that actually fits our reality: trade certainty for clarity, build flexibility into your plan, stay close to customers, strengthen your strategic muscles, and don’t go it alone. The businesses that thrive aren’t the ones with perfect forecasts—they’re the ones that can adapt with purpose while staying grounded in what matters.

A Thank You and a Look Ahead

Thank you for reading, engaging, and challenging me throughout 2025. Your questions, feedback, and conversations make my work meaningful.

As you wrap up this year and look toward 2026, I hope these articles serve as reminders: study what doesn’t work, see opportunities where others see obstacles, ask better questions, diagnose your real barriers, and build strategies flexible enough to survive whatever comes next.

From my family to yours, I wish you a joyful holiday season and a successful, healthy, and prosperous New Year. May 2026 bring clarity, growth, and the courage to lead through whatever uncertainties lie ahead.