The Two But Rule

CHAPTER 4Getting Your But in Shape

It's time to get our buts in shape. To do that, we have to dig further into intentions, into the moment someone decides to change the status quo and into the motives behind that decision.

If inventions are the nouns of innovation, intentions are the verbs. In fact, compared to intentions, inventions are easy. Inventions alone are inert. They can be written down, patented, and shared. But then they just sit there, idle until someone decides to do something.

For example, here's an invention:

• You bore a hole lengthwise through a piece of wood, insert a shaft of graphite into the hole, and cap it with a bit of rubber on one end.

Now, here's an intention:

• Someone comes along and needs a way to write something on a piece of paper, but they want to erase what they wrote later. They take your invention, whittle the end opposite the rubber to a point, and—voilà!—the pencil is born.

But then someone else comes along, carefully examines the pencil's pointy end, and shoves it into your eyeball.

• Now it's a disruptive innovation.

As you can see, intentions make things happen. And they're risky to share. You can't simply patent an intention and share it, not if you want your victim to stand still while you're trying to stick the pencil in their eye.

Deciding what intentions are worth spending time on is essential for picking your buts wisely. It's also important for deciding whether, when, and how to but in on someone else's intentions. Sticking your ...