Books and Journals – Simple Proven Framework for Growth

At Shifft our books and journals are created to do more than sit on your desk. Each one is a practical tool, built on proven framework and methods that we use in our business and with clients every day.

Whether you are looking to sharpen execution, build personal productivity, improve planning or spark innovation, you’ll find a resources here that helps you move from ideas to action.

The Questions You’re Not Asking

…and the Surprising Answers That Could Transform Your Business

Some business books are built on research.

This one is built on experience.

The Questions You’re Not Asking draws on more than 40 years of observations, conversations, coaching engagements, workshops, strategic planning sessions, and boardroom discussions with business owners and leadership teams across Australia.

The idea for the book itself has been more than 15 years in the making.

Throughout his career, Russell Cummings noticed a recurring pattern. Regardless of industry, size, or market conditions, many businesses faced remarkably similar challenges. Growth would stall. Teams would struggle with accountability. Profitability would come under pressure. Owners would become trapped in the day-to-day operation of their businesses. Strategic opportunities would be missed.

While the symptoms were often different, the underlying causes were frequently the same.

Over time, Russell realised that the greatest breakthroughs rarely came from finding better answers. They came from asking better questions.

The concept behind this book emerged from thousands of conversations with business owners, executives, managers, and leadership teams. Questions asked in coaching sessions. Questions raised in planning workshops. Questions that challenged assumptions, uncovered blind spots, and helped leaders see their businesses from a different perspective.

Many of the questions explored in this book are inspired by the real-world issues that repeatedly arise in owner-led businesses. Others are questions that business leaders should be asking but often don’t.

Each chapter examines a critical business question and explores the principles that underpin sustainable growth, effective leadership, strong culture, strategic thinking, customer focus, profitability, productivity, and long-term business success.

Rather than presenting complex theories or academic models, the book offers practical insights, straightforward thinking, and real-world lessons drawn from decades of experience working alongside business leaders.

Inside you’ll discover:

• Why growth can sometimes create more problems than it solves
• The hidden risks of customer concentration
• Why many businesses overestimate how customer-centric they really are
• The real reasons talented people leave organisations
• How culture shapes performance and results
• Why successful business owners often become trapped by the businesses they built
• The questions that separate exceptional businesses from average ones

Whether you’re a business owner, executive, manager, or emerging leader, this book will challenge your thinking, sharpen your decision-making, and help you identify opportunities and risks that may have been hidden in plain sight.

Because the future of your business is often determined not by the answers you have.

But by the questions you’re willing to ask.

AI Prompts for Key Areas & Situations Series

AI Prompts books for essential business areas such as productivity, sales, learn, workforce, planning, etc. – Click here

Future Releases – Coming soon.