Eat the Donkey

The comfortable drift toward mediocrity is the silent killer of great brands and companies. Most organizations and departments don't collapse from disruption. They slip, inch by inch, day by day, into sameness-playing it safe, optimizing yesterday's success, and mistaking efficiency for progress. In Eat the Donkey, Anthony Reeves-who has led brand, creative, design, and media teams for Amazon, Nike, Airbnb, LVMH, and Kohler-proves how iconic brands break that pattern. Through vivid stories from the Australian Outback to the world's most influential boardrooms, Reeves reveals why identity erodes so easily, why "best practices" produce the same results for everyone, and what it takes to stay distinctive in a world that keeps drifting toward average. This is a book about choosing discomfort on purpose. About knowing what you stand for, and protecting it fiercely. Clear, sharp, and unexpectedly personal, Eat the Donkey is a guide for leaders who want their company-and their career-to matter for longer than one good cycle.