To manage enablement across 180 markets, Lenovo avoids a purely centralized or decentralized model. Instead, they focus on "harmonizing" foundational elements like customer data centrally. This creates a unified, reliable data layer that then empowers local teams to execute culturally relevant enablement programs effectively.

During a transformation from services to product, identify and commercialize the reusable tools that services teams have already built to support clients. Instead of starting from scratch, productizing these existing "mini-products" aligns them with the broader product strategy, saves development time, and leverages proven solutions.

Assembled initially replaced a manual spreadsheet process. Their success came from understanding the spreadsheet was a symptom of deeper pains like headcount planning, real-time dashboards, and agent utilization. The real value was in solving these complex operational problems, not just digitizing a spreadsheet.

The most advanced GTM teams are abandoning traditional CRMs like Salesforce as their primary interface. Instead, they use data warehouses (Snowflake, Databricks) for flexible data storage and push curated insights to reps directly within their workflows (Slack, email, Notion), eliminating the need for manual data entry and retrieval.

Beneath the surface, sales 'opportunities,' support 'tickets,' and dev 'issues' are all just forms of work management. The core insight is that a single, canonical knowledge graph representing 'work,' 'identity,' and 'parts' can unify these departmental silos, which first-generation SaaS never did.

Data governance is often seen as a cost center. Reframe it as an enabler of revenue by showing how trusted, standardized data reduces the "idea to insight" cycle. This allows executives to make faster, more confident decisions that drive growth and secure buy-in.

To manage an overwhelming list of necessary business changes, Walmart's leadership began by clearly articulating what would remain constant: its core values. This provided a stable foundation, making the subsequent, widespread transformation feel more manageable and less threatening for employees.

Avoid the trap of building features for a single customer, which grinds products to a halt. When a high-stakes customer makes a specific request, the goal is to reframe and build it in a way that benefits the entire customer base, turning a one-off demand into a strategic win-win.

Instead of large, multi-year software rollouts, organizations should break down business objectives (e.g., shifting revenue to digital) into functional needs. This enables a modular, agile approach where technology solves specific problems for individual teams, delivering benefits in weeks, not years.