Field Guide
What I wish was taught in business schools.
Reading the Business
Numbers don’t speak for themselves. The same figures can tell completely different stories depending on what you compare, how you aggregate, and what you’re trying to decide. This section builds fluency — the ability to see through numbers to the underlying reality.
Start here: Ratios — Unit Economics
Setting Direction
Strategy reduces to two questions: how do you create value, and how do you keep it? Most strategy conversations skip the first question entirely. This section starts with value creation, then works through positioning, trade-offs, and the decisions that shape outcomes.
Start here: Value and Moats — The Value Stick
Running the Machine
Most execution problems aren’t effort problems — they’re system problems. Queues build up, decisions bottleneck, work-in-progress explodes. This section covers flow, constraints, and the discipline required to finish what you start.
Start here: The Execution Trap — Stop Starting, Start Finishing
Making Decisions
Experience doesn’t automatically become learning. You can make thousands of decisions and never get better at making them. The difference is whether you build systems that convert predictions into improving judgement.
Start here: How Decisions Compound — Learning Under Uncertainty
Leading People
Logic gets agreement. Caring gets action. You can have the right strategy, the right metrics, the right processes — and still fail because people don’t move. This section covers trust, identity, and the transition from manager to leader.
Start here: Head to Heart — Two Halves Of Trust
Buying and Fixing
Most acquisitions destroy value. Most turnarounds fail. The companies that succeed at these repeatedly have built something systematic. This is where all the pieces come together under time pressure.
Start here: The First Hundred Days — Harvest to Growth
Case studies: Acquirers — 24 studies of companies that compound through M&A.