A note before you start reading

Everything in this book is invented. The company doesn’t exist. Neither do the people, the town, or the lake.

However, everything in this book is also true in the sense that every problem in it has happened, repeatedly, to companies we work with. We made up the names and combined the stories. We didn’t have to exaggerate any of it.

Each chapter opens with a scene, then steps back to look at what was actually breaking underneath it. The section that follows gives additional context in a straightforward, business-minded way. This is the Business Planning portion. Read the scene for the gut check, then read this part for the fix.

Happy reading!