Effectuation

Effectuation

Category
Decision Making
When To Use?
A useful thinking toy when you don't know what you want.
Definition
Effectuation is the process of taking inventory & exploring affordances without knowing what they’ll lead to.

About

When feeling stuck or overwhelmed by a problem. You can adopt the mindset that any new action will lead to more learning and information.

Process

  1. Rather than starting with an issue, begin by examining your resources. Who are your friends, what are your hobbies, and what skills have you mastered? What kinds of levers can you pull?
  1. We begin by experimenting. By trying new things, we uncover interesting destinations (goals). So interesting that we may decide to reorient towards them. When you’re not super confident in your goals or your plan, you want to be in exploration mode.
  1. Follow paths of least resistance (be like water) and try cheap experiments (control your downside, the upside is harder to predict). In this exploration, you will be shaping your goals.