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?
How Can Companies Be Destroying Value While Thinking They’re Creating It?
Take 1 — The Cash Flow Commando At 2 AM I stared at a profitability matrix and discovered we were […] Read More
How Do You Implement “Parallel Processing” in Traditional Businesses?
Why Does Sequential Thinking Handicap Traditional Businesses? What Is Parallel Processing in Business? What Are the Four Principles of Parallel […] Read More
How Do You Implement HOT System in a Family Business?
Take 1 — The Stagnation Slaughters I watched a third-generation manufacturing company collapse over three years because the CEO knew […] Read More
How Do You Know When Transformation is Complete? The Evolution Never Ends
Take 1 — The Stagnation Slaughters After three years of brutal turnaround work, we moved a refrigeration division from losing […] Read More
How Do You Know Which Orthodoxies to Break First? The Truth About Strategic Innovation
Take 1 — The Disruptor's Manifesto Everyone in the refrigeration industry accepted that stainless steel appliances must cost $200 more […] Read More
How do you manage “constraint migration”?
Take 1 — The Pattern Recognition We solved our assembly line bottleneck. Production capacity increased 40%. We celebrated. Within weeks […] Read More
How Do You Run a Solo Transformation Without a Team? The David Advantage for Solopreneurs
Take 1 — The Disruptor's Manifesto Every business book says transformation requires a team. I bought a struggling plastics manufacturer […] Read More
HOT System Transformation vs. Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model: Which Approach Delivers Better Results?
Take 1 — The Lead Time Killer Kotter's 8-Step Model requires 12-24 months. The HOT System operates on 90-day sprints. […] Read More
The pursuit of high performance has produced two seemingly contradictory frameworks: Productive Discomfort, which thrives on ambiguity and decisive action amid uncertainty, and psychological safety
Take 1 — The Cultural Combatant Most organizations have spent the last decade building psychological safety while their competitors were […] Read More
What Is the Rapid Decision Framework and How Does It Work?
Take 1 — The Lead Time Killer Jeff Bezos wrote it in an Amazon shareholder letter: applying heavy Type 1 […] Read More
Sniper SKU Strategy vs. Porter’s Generic Strategies: Precision Targeting vs. Broad Positioning
Take 1 — The Disruptor's Manifesto Porter tells you to pick a lane and stay in it. Cost leadership. Differentiation. […] Read More
Who Was Aleksandr Karelin? Almost Undefeated and Why
Who Was Aleksandr Karelin? What Was Karelin's Actual Competitive Record? How Did a Siberian Childhood Build That Conditioning? Why Did […] Read More