The challenges facing the retail industry today have been well-chronicled. Overall, U.S. retail sales haven't grown much lately, despite aggressive price-cutting and promotion. What's going on in the retail industry? Is this just cyclical -- or is some larger secular trend on display here? I've chatted with a number of folks over the past year on this issue, and here is some of what I've heard:

The advertising industry is in a state of existential crisis, thanks to technology; analytics; migrating, fickle and/or distracted eyeballs; Netflix and other on-demand services; piracy; privacy; attribution; the decline of print as a medium; stagnating television audience numbers; and the fact that we can finally start to understand which 50% of our ad spend is wasted.

Oh, my, how far we've come. It's 2014, and the humble little ad banner that drives so much of Internet advertising is 20 years old. Can you believe it?

I once had a conversation with the head of engineering of a large, successful software company. I asked her how -- as her career evolved from tactical to senior managerial -- she maintained technical prowess along with respect from advanced technical teams. While being a front-line developer wasn't her calling, she said her ongoing effectiveness in leading teams and solving complex engineering issues came from the quality of her early training and technical foundation.

Dear all: How are you? As you know, I love you all dearly, even if I don't show it every day. I have spent my entire career in your presence in some way, shape or form, and I care. I really do. Which is the point of this letter. Because it looks to me as if you have chosen to sit mostly on the sidelines of one of the biggest challenges the industry is facing. And it is this: The GRP is clearly dead, so now what?

The first few times I took my husband skiing, I tried to give him a few pointers. "Keep your chest pointed downhill," I said. "Bend your knees so your weight is on your shins." He didn't want to hear it. So, for Valentine's Day, I gave him a ski lesson. We went up the hill with the instructor. "Keep your chest pointed downhill," he said. "Bend your knees so your weight is on your shins." "Wow!" said my husband. "It works! That's amazing!"

I belong to a gym, and for the most part, I love it. But you know what annoys me? In spite of the fact that I use a maximum of five or six machines every time I go to the gym, I am also implicitly paying for those ellipticals that "other" people use and that I never touch. Shouldn't I just have to pay for the machines I use? Right? If this makes me sound like I'm asking too much, think about how my complaint isn't that different from people who tell you they hate paying their cable bill for …

"Fast is fine, but accuracy is important." That quote is attributed to Wyatt Earp, but I think it applies to marketing as well. In a world of marketing that is quickly being pushed towards data-driven methodologies, I would think accuracy is one of the most important criteria, wouldn't you?

"How can I be helpful to you? Let me know now or in the future." I always try to end conversations that way. It's not just a saying, it's a state of mind.

In my book "Z.E.R.O.," I make several references and extend several metaphors to weight -- and specifically obesity. It's a particular passion point of mine, a cause I identify with strongly for a bunch of personal reasons. I draw a parallel to our media industry in danger of collapsing under its own girth. Later in the book, I talk about marketer lethargy, inertia and inactivity with a very direct call-to-action: Hey fatso, time to hit the gym! It's a bit of tough love connected to our industry's own epidemic, namely the inability to break bad habits, get out of our …