The Two But Rule

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

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.