executive playbooks

Your profit is a lie
A rising ROE can hide a weakening business. The DuPont model shows where the risk actually sits.
 • Josh Rowe
Everyone is responsible, so no one is responsible
Apple’s secret weapon isn’t design; it’s the DRI. Use this protocol to eliminate “committee guilt” and assign radical accountability.
 • Josh Rowe
If Your Strategy Can Be Copied, It Isn’t Strategy
Operational efficiency isn’t strategy. If your business lacks one of Helmer’s 7 Powers, your margins will eventually erode.
 • Josh Rowe
Stop being a relationship builder
Relationship selling is dead. Use the Challenger framework to teach your customers something new and close the deal.
 • Josh Rowe
Justify every dollar
Last year’s budget is irrelevant. Zero-Based Budgeting forces every department to prove ROI now, or lose funding.
 • Josh Rowe
Your team is nice. That’s a problem
Artificial harmony is a sign of dysfunction. Use this protocol to force the productive conflict you need.
 • Josh Rowe
How we go bankrupt in 2026
Optimism destroys companies. Use the Pre-Mortem protocol to predict your failure so you can prevent it.
 • Josh Rowe
Your customers don’t want your product
People don’t buy products; they hire them to do a job. Use the JTBD framework to find out why they actually buy.
 • Josh Rowe
You are fixing the wrong problem
Every business has exactly one bottleneck. Use Goldratt’s Law to find yours and ignore everything else.
 • Josh Rowe
Who would you fight to keep?
Apply the Netflix “Keeper Test” to your team. If you wouldn’t fight to keep them, why are you letting them stay?
 • Josh Rowe
Your 2026 plan is a hallucination
Stop making resolutions. Use this prompt to convert vague wishes into binary, measurable OKRs before February hits.
 • Josh Rowe
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