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?
Teaching Case: Precision Scale Company – Business Model Innovation Through Value Transformation
What Did Precision Scale Company Actually Change? What Was the Burning Platform? How Does One Decimal Place Generate Revenue? What […] Read More
The Raise-Your-Hand Rule: How Employee Empowerment Through Strategic Questioning Drives Business Results
Companies with highly aligned goals grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable than unaligned peers. Employees who understand […] Read More
Magnificent Obsessions in Business: The Strategic Framework That Drives 50% Revenue Growth
A shopping cart company surveyed retail shoppers and discovered that 82% had left a store without purchasing because of bad […] Read More
20 questions designed to help you identify and shatter the orthodoxies limiting your business
In a product planning meeting, someone said "nobody buys mid-tier refrigerators without water dispensers." Everyone nodded. It was accepted truth. […] Read More
12 Pricing Intelligence Opportunities for Margin Enhancement
PROS pricing research confirmed that a 1% improvement in price delivers an 11% increase in operating profits. A 5% price […] Read More
Week One Quick Wins: 10 Immediate Actions for Business Transformation
Why Do Most Business Transformations Fail? The 10 Immediate Actions for Business Transformation Real-World Success Story Examples Why Do Quick […] Read More
Revenue Responsibility Engineering vs. Cost Center Thinking: Transforming Technical Teams Into Revenue Drivers
When I assigned revenue responsibility to every engineering project at Illinois Tool Works and made financial impact the primary filter […] Read More
Pattern Reader Intelligence vs Predictive Analytics: Human Insight vs Machine Learning
Predictive analytics outperforms human judgment in approximately 60% of stable, well-understood decision contexts — credit scoring, demand forecasting, fraud detection, […] Read More
What Exactly Is “Stagnation Syndrome” and Why Is It Deadly?
Stage gates were designed by Robert Cooper based on empirical studies at DuPont, Exxon, and United Technologies — stable, capital-intensive […] Read More
Stop Transformation Failure: The 20-Point Team Selection Checklist
Bain research shows 88% of business transformations fail to achieve their original ambitions — and the number one culprit […] Read More
What’s the “70% Rule” and Why Does It Work?
The Neuroscience Behind 70% Confidence Why Perfect Information Is an Illusion Decision Classification: Not All Decisions Are Equal How to […] Read More
What’s “Productive Discomfort” and Why Is It Essential? The Paradox of Growth Through Unease
The Yerkes-Dodson Law has been in the neuroscience literature for over a century, and it says one thing clearly: peak […] Read More