Find the constraint and choose the next move 4 of 17 in this group
SOP 186
Pick the path up the mountain that fits your skills
What this page is for. Use it once you are sure which constraint you are going after and need to choose how. Many routes can clear one constraint, the way many trails reach one summit. This page covers checking first that the problem is really yours to solve now, weighing routes by how likely they are to work and what they return rather than by right and wrong, how a route is picked for a given person from the skills and resources they already have, and how, for getting leads, the pick lands, by and large, on doing more, or doing better, with a method you already know. Why there is only one constraint at a time, and the questions that narrow to it, are set out on SOP 184 — Find the one constraint with six questions.
SOP-186-Pick-the-path-up-the-mountain-that-fits-your-skills.md
1. Confirm it is the constraint before you pick a path
Where the constraint is leads, three behavior changes are set out, in order:
- Make sure more leads is the best use of your resources. The only point of working on leads, fundamentally, is if it is the best return on your time. If there are other things you could be doing, go and do those, and that is meant. Leads might become your problem eventually, but it might not be the problem today, and if it is not, go and work on the one that is.
- If it is the problem, turn to the ways of advertising rated best here (section 11).
- Pick the right path to carry it out: the subject of this page.
The same check is repeated just before a path is picked. First confirm this is even a problem for you. If it is not the constraint of your business, you should not be doing this right now. Then suppose you have said it is: you need cheaper leads specifically, everything else is fine, and with them you would make more. Under that assumption, there are many ways up the mountain; any of them could work, and the task is to pick the one with the highest risk-adjusted return for you.
2. Think in likelihoods and returns, not right and wrong
A theme runs through all of this: there are many ways up the mountain, a lot of ways to solve a problem, and many different answers to the same one. So the question of whether an approach is right or wrong should probably leave your vocabulary. Ask instead:
- How much more likely is this to work?
- What is the adjusted return on each path?
This is thought to be a much stronger frame, and it lets you entertain wilder ideas than a yes-or-no way of thinking allows. The picture offered: wear a continuum hat and a returns hat, not a yes-or-no hat.
3. Many paths reach one summit
Understanding what is called the paradox of solutions is, it is thought, one of the really important things: several paths can take you up the same mountain.
The leads example. Say you have a heavy leads problem and need more of them. You could:
- Increase your ad spend.
- Make more ads, meaning more creative, or make better creative.
- Do some conversion rate optimization on your pages.
- Improve your lead magnet.
These four are among a hundred things you could do, it is said. Treat each one as a different path up the mountain.
Finding the constraint is the hard part. The difficulty lies in identifying the constraint properly. Once you have, you should absolutely hit it with an atomic bomb, so to speak, to make sure it is destroyed. With leads as your issue you could take just one of those paths, or, maybe, all four. Asked which one to do, the answer is: do them all. Or start with the one you think you are most likely to succeed with, and work your way down from there. If it clears the constraint, good; carry on.
The summit is single; the paths vary. Constraints get solved in unlimited ways, and there are many kinds of business. Reaching the altitude, clearing the constraint, is one goal. The routes to it can differ.
The same picture, applied to leads. There are many equally effective ways to lower lead costs. Picture each colored line on a drawing of a mountain as another way that could reach the top. Each has different scenery and different views, but all of them get there, and you can imagine one climber shouting at another that his way up is better. Looked at flat, assuming it is drawn in two dimensions, some paths are shorter than others. So some paths may be better for you.
4. Pick the path with the best risk-adjusted return for you
The path you choose, or the one chosen for you, should be the one with the highest risk-adjusted return given the skills and resources you already have.
Two people, one mountain. One is really good at jogging and the other at rock climbing. Both might reach the top, and both might take the same time, though they might cover very different distances, and one route might be riskier than the other. What decides it is the skills and resources each already has.
How a path is picked for someone. The advice here tends to be a specific directive, not only the name of the problem, and it starts from what resources you have available. What are your skills? What assets do you have now? The next step is to look across the possible routes, weigh which one this person has more experience with, and name that route as, it is thought, the highest-likelihood path for them. Done one to one, the review would cover your background, your skill set and the cash you have on hand, and ask which of the three methods (section 5) is thought most likely to work for you.
The climber and the jagged rocks. If one person knows how to climb and another does not, the one who cannot climb would not be sent up a path with jagged rocks to scale. The path could get them there. The question is which one is the highest-likelihood bet.
More skills, more paths. Each skill you add opens more of these paths to you. Someone who is a master climber, a master hiker and an endurance runner is fine on nearly all of them. That means more ways to win.
5. For leads: the method you know, done more or better
Owners get customers in many different ways, it is said, but almost every owner this page is written for gets them through ads, outreach or content, or a combination of them. Once you know which, you pick the method, then the strategy.
The method you have used before.
| If you have done this before | The suggestion |
|---|---|
| Ads | Probably more and better ads, if you need more leads |
| Content | The likely first suggestion would be more and better content |
| Outreach | The recommendation might be more and better outreach |
There is, of course, a time to start other channels. But by and large, more is always the risk-adjusted best bet. The case for more, and for using it up before anything else, has its own page: SOP 187 — Exhaust more before anything else.
Then the strategy. With the method picked, the next pick is the strategy, one of the three growth moves: do more, do it better, or do something new. As a side note, it is said, 99% of the time it will be more or better, not new. What each move means, and the order in which to try them, is set out on SOP 40 — Choose the next growth move.
6. Volume times leverage equals output
The choice nets out to one equation, called the ultimate work equation for what you want: volume times leverage equals output. More is volume. Leverage is getting more out of that volume, which is better. The result is output, which is what you are after. So to raise output you either have to do more or do it better, or do both, which is rated a favorite here. What leverage is and where it comes from is worked through on SOP 185 — Allocate resources to the constraint and use leverage.
7. The order, in short
In short, the order runs like this. Confirm leads are the constraint, and if they are not, do not work on them now. Know the method you use: ads, outreach, content, or a mix. Choose one of the three growth moves. Then come the tactics, which is where you pick your path up the mountain.
8. What this page does not decide for you
- A second example of many routes. Not established on this page.
- What else the many equal ways to lower lead costs increase. Not established on this page.
9. The checklist
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Confirm the problem is the constraint and the best use of your resources; if not, work on the one that is |
| 2 | List the paths that could clear it; judge each by how likely it is to work and what it returns |
| 3 | Hit the constraint with all of them, or start with the one you are most likely to succeed with and work down |
| 4 | Pick the highest risk-adjusted path given the skills, assets and cash you already have |
| 5 | For leads, the likely suggestion is more and better of the method you have used; by and large, more |
| 6 | Raise output with more, better, or both |
10. Where this sits
- The channel grid, and picking the one cell to work first: SOP 12 — Run the four-channel grid.
- Starting paid advertising on a first platform: SOP 35 — Choose the first paid platform.
- Picking the one step in a funnel to test, by arithmetic: SOP 41 — Run one test a week.
- Why more is almost always the answer, stated as a principle for marketing: SOP 195 — Put the marketing principles ahead of the tactics, section 4.
11. What this page does not cover
For the ways of advertising, and the tactics inside ads, outreach and content, turn to SOP 209 — Pick a lead bucket, starting with the offer and lead magnet.
Terms defined on this page
- Method (ads, outreach, content)
- How a business gets customers; nearly everyone uses ads, outreach, content or a mix. Choose the method first, then the strategy.
- Paths up the mountain
- A single constraint can be cleared by many routes, as a summit can be reached by many trails. Each differs in length, risk and scenery, so some suit you better than others.
- Risk-adjusted return
- How much a path is likely to return once its chance of failing is weighed. The path you pick, and the next product bet, should score highest on it given your skills and resources.