The motor
01 / 15
New motor. Same belts.
Same factory.
1880s
1920s
New motor. Same belts.
The motor
02 / 15
The AI is pointed at
the wrong step.
Ask
03 / 15
Ask what breaks first
at ten times.
If we had ten times the work tomorrow, with the same people, what breaks first?
2×
Everyone works late.
10×
Something snaps.
Ask
04 / 15
Have the AI
interview you.
The interview
I want to find the one thing that limits how much my business can grow. Interview me to find what would break first if we had ten times the work with the same people.
Ask one question at a time, and no more than fifteen. Finish with what breaks first, why you think so, and what you are least sure about. Do not suggest solutions.
Check
05 / 15
A real constraint
leaves a trail.
It’s in the tools you already use
Check
06 / 15
Check it against
90 days of evidence.
After the interview
Here is what I think limits my business: paste what the interview found.
Check that against the last 90 days in everything you are connected to. Look for where work waits. For each thing on my list, tell me whether the evidence backs it up, with real examples. Then flag anything that is waiting that I did not mention. Do not recommend fixes.
Turtle
07 / 15
Put a turtle on it.
It moves only when the problem is solved
One constraint, not five.
One person owns it.
Everybody can see it.
Turtle
08 / 15
Let AI write
the Friday update.
On a weekly schedule
Every Friday, look across everything you are connected to and tell me whether our constraint has been resolved: name it.
If it has not, draft a short update to my team in my email. Say where it stands, what is being done, and what is next.
Order
09 / 15
Delete first.
Automate last.
1
Delete or simplify the step.
2
Take everything else off the constraint.
3
Let AI do the step itself.
MOST START HEREOrder
10 / 15
First, ask what
can be removed.
Before AI touches anything
Here is how this process works today: describe it. If anything is unclear, ask me about it, one question at a time.
Then tell me what we could remove completely, and what we could make simpler.
Order
11 / 15
Take everything else
off the constraint.
Maria’s day
Order
12 / 15
Now let AI
draft the quote.
Not 10×
13 / 15
When ten times
isn’t the goal.
Upstream
Look at ten times the options. Keep the best.
Quality
Same customers. Ten times the care.
Again
14 / 15
The constraint doesn’t
disappear. It moves.
Again
15 / 15
Recap
Ask what breaks first at ten times.
Check it where work waits.
Put a turtle on it.
Delete, clear the way, then let AI do the step. (Start again.)