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There must be a way. There must be a way to increase sales. Actually I have proof, Pete’s company. There we succeeded. With no advantage in technology. With no budget to invest in equipment or advertising. With nothing. And in less than one month, look where we are. Now we have what Pete is calling a Mafia offer—an offer so good, no one can refuse it.

But where am I going to get more of these brilliant ideas?

How brilliant must it be to guarantee that Stacey’s company will not be thrown to the shredder? Very. Even if we grow the profit to five million a year, it will not be enough. Not even ten. The price they can get by selling it to the wolves is simply too high. They do have a realistic chance to get close to one hundred million dollars. It’s not a fantasy.

It will not be enough to find a marketing breakthrough that will increase sales. We have to find something that is powerful enough that we eat the competitors for breakfast. That’s the only way.

No, I probably don’t know the real cloud, and increasing sales will not be sufficient. But I do know how to find the solution. It’s in my head, hidden, fragmented, maybe even grossly distorted, but if it exists, it’s there. I must use Jonah’s Thinking Processes to bring it out into the open. To surface and polish it.

I’ve already done the most difficult part. Due to Brandon and Jim I’ve already built the Current Reality Tree of the current competitive market. I have to continue on.

And I have to do it myself, I cannot push it on Stacey and Bob. It’s my responsibility, and besides they are likely to look at the situation too narrowly. I must find the generic way. Later, each of them should use it to construct the specific solution for his and her own needs.

Stop procrastinating, I urge myself. The Current Reality Tree points out the core problem; managers are using local optima. The next step is to state it much more precisely. I have to figure out what prevents management from doing much better. Jim is wrong. According to Jonah, we shouldn’t assume ignorance or incompetence on the part of managers. We should assume that they are captured in a conflict that is preventing them from doing the right thing. So, if I want to do it by the book, I should state what the right thing is for them to do and what the conflict is that is preventing them from doing it.

What should I select as “the right thing”? How would I like my managers to run their company?

Isn’t it obvious? I ask myself. They should strive to achieve global optima.

Hmm. I have a problem with that.

Not that I’m against global optima, but If optimum was the best we could do, how come a breakthrough solution gives results that were inconceivable before?

After a while it starts to register. Optimum is doing the best within the box, while what I’m looking for is . . .

Exactly. We desperately need breakthrough solutions. Anything less will not be sufficient. We must find solutions outside the box.

So what am I suggesting? That managers run their companies by always striving to find breakthrough solutions?

No. There is no need to exaggerate.

I think that I’ll be happy with “Managers arrive at good decisions.” This way I leave the door open for breakthrough solutions when needed, without unnecessarily demanding them as the norm.

I think about it. It’s simple, but it does make sense. I decide to take it as the desired objective.

Now I have to clearly verbalize the conflict preventing managers from achieving this objective. According to Jonah’s guidelines, this conflict should be quite apparent in the Current Reality Tree. I have a problem. I think that I know this tree inside and out. If there is an apparent conflict, I’m sure I would have noticed it.

From my experience I’ve learned that the best way to save time is to follow the guidelines. I’ve got to look at it again, but how?

I take the first exit and stop at a gas station. “Fill it up. Super, please.”

I reach into the back seat, grab my briefcase and pull out the tree.