The Stagnation Assassin Blog
Weapons-Grade Wisdom
Short Slaughters, Permanent Profits
Start Here: My Most-Read Articles
The Stagnation Encyclopedia: Why Is Your Company Dying While You Celebrate Success?
The warning signs most executive teams miss, in one reference.
The Three Essential Leadership Behaviors That Make or Break Organizational Transformation
Three behaviors that quietly sabotage change efforts, and how to master them.
HOT System Transformation vs. Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
A 90-day rapid turnaround approach compared with the classic 8-step model.
The 3-Question Transformation Leader Test
Three questions that show who can actually run a turnaround.
What's the “70% Rule” and Why Does It Work?
Decide before you have every fact, and stop paying for delay.
What's the Difference Between Activity and Productivity?
The audit that turns busyness into measurable impact.
Drowning in Data but
Starving for Strategic Solutions?
Energy Amplification vs Force Multipliers
The Law of Energy Amplification vs. Force Multiplier Theory: Organizational Physics Versus Military Strategy in Business Transformation Energy is the […] Read More
The 5 Stagnation Symptoms Killing Your Company (And How to Diagnose Them)
Why businesses don't die from dramatic failures—they decay from patterns nobody notices until it's too late Kodak didn't fail because […] Read More
Business Ethics: Transparent Decisions
The customer had been with us for twelve years. Loyal through three economic downturns. A reference account we'd highlighted in […] Read More
Magnificent Obsessions: Customer Research
The survey results were unambiguous. Seventy-eight percent of customers rated ice dispensers as "very important" when purchasing refrigeration units. The […] Read More
The 3-S Method: Unlock Hidden Capacity
The operations director was certain. "We're at capacity," he told me. "Any growth requires new equipment, expanded facilities, additional headcount. […] Read More
Anti-Consultant Guide: Small Business Advice
The Anti-Consultant Guide to Small Business Advice: What Actually Works The small business owner sat across from me, exhausted. She'd […] Read More
Launch Right: Avoiding Stagnation Traps
The entrepreneur had done everything right. Solid business plan. Adequate funding. A product customers genuinely needed. Five years in, her […] Read More
The HOT System: Business Transformation
Seventy percent of business transformations fail. McKinsey has documented this statistic for decades, yet the failure rate persists. Companies announce […] Read More
Why Businesses Fail: The Stagnation Genome
Every struggling business tells itself the same story: external forces conspired against us. The economy shifted. A competitor got lucky. […] Read More
The 90-Day Business Recovery Playbook
Most business recovery advice sounds reasonable until you're actually drowning. "Develop a strategic plan." "Engage stakeholders." "Build consensus around the […] Read More
Four-Position Framework for Breakthrough Leadership
The data is unambiguous: diverse leadership teams outperform homogeneous ones. McKinsey's research shows companies in the top quartile for diversity […] Read More
5 Signs Your Industry Is Ripe for Disruption Today
Every disrupted industry saw it coming. The taxi industry watched Uber approach for years. Kodak invented digital photography then ignored […] Read More