The frameworks and mental models I bring to every engagement — shared here so we can think about your operations from the same starting point.
Every time I sit down with a client, I'm drawing on a set of ideas that shape how I see the work. Some of these came from books I've read and couldn't stop thinking about. Some came from patterns I've watched play out across dozens of engagements. All of them influence what I look for, what questions I ask, and why I push back when a proposed solution doesn't quite address the underlying problem.
I built this series because I kept finding myself explaining the same concepts in different conversations — and realizing that the explanation itself was useful, not just the conclusion. When you understand why I'm asking whether that workflow actually reduces friction for the Elephant, or whether the problem you're trying to fix is a symptom of something upstream, our conversations get shorter and the solutions get better.
This isn't required reading. But if you want to understand how I think — and get more out of the time we spend building together — this is a good place to start.
The Pareto Principle — and why a small number of operational improvements will do more for your firm than everything else on your wish list combined. How to identify your 20% before we start building.
Checklists aren't for people who don't know what they're doing — they're for people doing work complex enough that even experts miss steps under real conditions. Why this is the infrastructure beneath everything we build.
Every recurring problem is produced by a system. If you don't change the system, the problem keeps being produced. Why the clean CRM gets messy again — and where the real leverage actually lives.
The Rider plans, the Elephant has the power, and the Path determines whether change actually sticks. Why your workflows don't hold — and how to design for the way humans actually behave, not the way we wish they did.
Now that you know how I think — let's talk about what that looks like for your firm. Bring your list. We'll find your 20%, trace the system, and build for the Elephant.
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