The Two But Rule

Praise for THE TWO BUT RULE "In a world of boring business books, The Two But Rule is a surprising page-turner that delivers a refreshing way to embrace contrary viewpoints and break the cycle of inertia that plagues our national discourse. It's an approach that both journalists and decision-makers alike might use to better explore problems and solve them." - Jack Speer, NPR News Anchor "The Two But Rule is based on an idea that I reacted to by thinking, 'But this is ridiculous.' Then, once I started reading it, I couldn't stop because, well, I kept finding myself thinking, 'But he does such a good job of convincing me that he's right.' BOOM! John Wolpert snagged me with that magical second but. I am a huge fan of this book-it's useful, timeless, and just plain fun to read." - Robert I. Sutton, New York Times bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule and (with Huggy Rao) The Friction Project "No buts about it-The Two But Rule brings the art of critical thinking into the 21st century. Not only will you have fun reading this, you really will improve your problem-solving skills." - Geoffrey Moore, Author, Speaker, Advisor "Wolpert creates a memorable way to embrace Momentum Thinking in your innovation process. This technique opens up new possibilities for organizations of all sizes, harnessing the energy of critics and nay-sayers to catapult teams in new and better directions." - Henry Chesbrough, Professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and author of Open Innovation

JOHN WOLPERT has founded companies, R&D consortia, and open source organizations in his decades-long career, from the early days of the Web to the rise of artificial intelligence. John has served as a CEO, a product executive, and a writer featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the popular newsletter and podcast, 2Buts.com. But the title that describes him best is Seeker of Awesomeness. It's a role that taught him not to ignore obstacles or hide from problems but to embrace them.

Introduction xi Part 1 Momentum Thinking Essentials 1 Chapter 1 Embracing Your But 3 Our Broken Buts 5 Two But Basics 7 Stating the 1But 9 Stating the Because 11 Stating the 2But 12 Elon Musk's Fuzzy But 13 Chapter 2 No Buts Allowed 17 The Tragic Buts of Facebook and Lehman Brothers 18 The No- Buts Policy Makes Dumb Ideas Stupid: Ask Coke 19 Spanx, Adobe, and the 1But Winner 20 We Need Bolder Buts 22 Building Braver Buts 24 The Science of Buts 26 Waiting for the Quantum But 27 Saving But- Head 28 Rescuing 1But- Guy 30 Chapter 3 This Book Saved My But 31 Chapter 4 Getting Your But in Shape 35 The Pain in Your But 36 What's Behind Your But 38 Best Buy's Big Buts 39 Uber's Bigger Buts 41 Chapter 5 Advanced Butology 45 Gnarly Buts 45 Chain of Buts 48 Rediscovering Your But 53 Proteins Got a Brand New But 54 Hidden Buts 56 Chapter 6 Bad Buts 59 Lewis and Clark's Historic Buts 60 Cheating Buts 63 Volkswagen's Gassy But 64 Don't Be a Lazy But 66 Don't Argue with Your But 66 Part 2 The Two But Rule in Practice 69 Chapter 7 The Social Life of Buts 71 Drunken Buts 72 The Gaps in Your But 73 Exposing Your But 75 Wolpert221080_ftoc.indd 8 16-11-2023 14:22:08 Chapter 8 Playing with Your But 79 Timing Your But 82 Butting In 84 The Odious But 85 The Empathetic But 86 The But of an Ass 87 Chapter 9 Old Buts and New Buts 89 Airbnb and Paul Graham's Old But Breakthrough 90 Runaway Buts 92 The End of Buts 95 Chapter 10 Putting Your But to Work 97 Leaning Into Your But 99 Five Buts 101 The Two But Retrospective 103 Chapter 11 Managing Your But 105 2But Tools 106 Two But Notation 107 Artificial Buts 107 Two-But Buddy 109 Protecting Your Buts 111 Teaching AI to Embrace Its But 112 Part 3 Life's Big Buts 113 Chapter 12 You and Your But 115 Everyday Buts 116 Fixing the Fan 117 Surviving Parenting Purgatory 118 Changing Careers 120 Wolpert221080_ftoc.indd 9 16-11-2023 14:22:08 Chapter 13 Business Buts 129 Running a Small Business Is a Pain in the But 129 Calendly and the Many Buts of Starting a Business 133 Where to Sit Your Buts 138 Chapter 14 Product and Technology Buts 145 The 2B Product Review 146 Who Owns Your But Online? 146 Product Feature Creep 151 Regulating AI 155 Chapter 15 Buts in Conflict 163 Solon, Father of Buts 163 Big Government's Budget Buts 168 Chapter 16 Saving the World...with Your But 175 Windy Buts 176 Plastic Buts 178 Chapter 17 The Rear End 193 The Buts We Leave Behind 194 Embrace Yourself 194 All Your Wonderful Buts 195 Acknowledgments 197 About the Author 199 Index 201