The Masters
of Change.

Strategy as subtraction

Choose a distinct position, accept trade-offs and build reinforcing activities.

Strategy as subtraction

If you were not already doing it, would you start it today?

Strategy as subtraction

Ask what can be removed before adding another solution.

Strategy as subtraction

Explore options, eliminate the nonessential and ease essential execution.

Strategy as subtraction

Invert the problem: identify what guarantees failure and remove those conditions.

Strategy as subtraction

Remove fragility and preserve options that benefit from uncertainty.

Strategy as subtraction

Less, but better: preserve function and remove the unnecessary.

Strategy as subtraction

Refine a system by removing what does not serve its purpose.

Strategy as subtraction

Focus resources by saying no and rethink the interactions a product needs.

Change & leadership

Build urgency and a coalition, remove barriers, generate wins and embed change.

Change & leadership

Change forces holding the current state, then support the new behavior.

Change & leadership

Help people let go, navigate the neutral zone and commit to a new beginning.

Change & leadership

Design adoption around context and visible useful results.

Change & leadership

Direct the rider, motivate the elephant and shape the path.

Change & leadership

Look beneath artifacts and stated values to guiding assumptions.

Change & leadership

Enable people to raise concerns and learn without interpersonal punishment.

Change & leadership

Study variation and improve the system before judging its people.

Change & leadership

Seek leverage in feedback, rules, goals and paradigms.

Exponential & disruption

Digitized, deceptive, disruptive, demonetized, dematerialized, democratized; Duplicate is Aaron’s extension.

Exponential & disruption

Use a Massive Transformative Purpose to align experiments and choices.

Exponential & disruption

Explore technology trajectories while testing current capabilities.

Exponential & disruption

Get outside the building and test customer assumptions before scaling.

Exponential & disruption

Build, measure and learn with the smallest useful test.

Exponential & disruption

Investigate customers and models incumbents struggle to prioritize.

Exponential & disruption

Question delivery models before new channels make them obsolete.

Exponential & disruption

Work backward from needs and distinguish reversible decisions.

Exponential & disruption

Set an ambitious destination and test physical, financial and organizational constraints.

Exponential & disruption

Listen to criticism, fix the offer, then improve distribution.

Exponential & disruption

Collect independent judgments before sharing group consensus.

Behavior & incentives

Compare intuition with base rates and alternative explanations.

Behavior & incentives

Treat beliefs as hypotheses and make room to revise them.

Behavior & incentives

Behavior occurs when motivation, ability and a prompt converge.

Behavior & incentives

Use influence transparently while preserving choice and truthful evidence.

Behavior & incentives

When a measure becomes a target, examine incentive distortion.

AI & technology

Invite AI into appropriate work while retaining human verification.

AI & technology

Scope a project, improve data and iterate evaluation.

AI & technology

Build around human needs with careful data, evaluation and responsibility.

AI & technology

Move from defending knowledge to learning customer and colleague needs.

Comedy & improv

Notice status behavior and lower contribution costs.

Comedy & improv

Accept shared reality and build a useful contribution.

Comedy & improv

Listen, build and learn as an ensemble.

Comedy & improv

Accept the situation, contribute and turn mistakes into information.

Comedy & improv

Repeat the work and improve it through feedback.

Comedy & improv

Translate euphemisms and examine protected assumptions.