Problem Selection + Stakeholder Mapping (The ‘Real’ Bottleneck)
Most teams pick problems based on emotion. You’ll pick based on leverage.
Select an impact problem with a clear bottleneck and map stakeholders, power, incentives, and potential harms.
Core Teachings
Key concepts with source texts
Start with: what’s the constraint?
Common bottlenecks: - Access (capital, infrastructure, information, markets) - Incentives (misaligned rewards, perverse subsidies) - Capability (skills, time, coordination) - Trust (misinformation, fear, broken institutions) - Policy/legal (rights, enforcement, compliance cost)
Write 5 plausible bottlenecks for your issue, then test which is binding via interviews + data.
Study Materials
Primary sources with guided reading
Additional Resources
Any decent systems primer works; the goal is to start thinking in feedback loops.
Write your thoughts before revealing answers
Your Thoughts
Writing your thoughts first will deepen your understanding
Bridge notes help connect the resources and show how they relate to the learning outcome.
AI-generated notes synthesize the lesson outcome and resource summaries. Human-reviewed before publishing.
What’s a sign you picked the wrong bottleneck?