The Two But Rule

CHAPTER 10Putting Your But to Work

There are only two endings to a well-run process of Momentum Thinking: a decision to stop, as we just saw in the previous chapter, or a decision to go. This is about the latter, turning Momentum Thinking into Momentum Doing.

The most critical moment in applying the Two But Rule is when you realize that your cavalcade of 1Buts and 2Buts have produced enough creative juice to take action. It's when everything crystallizes into a plan that's not just technically feasible but psychologically acceptable to the team. This is the moment anxiety turns into collective excitement.

You could decide to continue piling up buts endlessly until that magic moment, but time is the ultimate but. And while a hallmark of more creative teams is the willingness to wrestle longer with a complex issue, playtime must always come to an end. The ending of play is an essential part of what makes it meaningful. So it's good practice to give around an hour and a half at minimum (and usually no more than three hours) to playing the 2Buts game.

When that time is up, whatever you have is what you're going to act on, no matter what. Taking that seriously will shift your exploration naturally from a lot of lateral thinking early in the session to the discovery of more practical, actionable 2Buts as the end of the session approaches.

Your 2Buts are becoming actionable when they attract enough support to pursue—and when they're based on clear, verifiable facts or readily testable ...