Two But Turkey Day

Issue #47 of The Two But Rule

Image by Adobe Firefly

Hello again, fellow But-Heads! It’s Thanksgiving week here in the US, and you know what that means. Yes, millions of parents terrified at the prospect of a week without school…and also turkey.

Turkey Fight

At this time of year, you might imagine enjoying a meal with family and friends, coupled with a rousing argument about politics between Grandpa and your sister’s kid that just graduated from college. Good times.

This year, if you dare, take the opportunity to help the Thanksgiving debate club with a little instruction in the Two But Rule. Seriously…if you can pull it off without bloodshed, see if you can get the family adding 2Buts to their 1Buts and see what happens.

“But what you are saying makes no sense to me, because…”
“BUT it would if…”

or

“Your Boomer logic is sus, bruh, because…”
”But I’d think your point-of-view was fire, if…”

There’s a lot to argue about this year…a lot. The lesson of the Two But Rule is to find the human needs behind what’s being said, honor the needs behind our own objections, and try to square them to meet everyone’s needs.

The world is so full of negative energy right now. We can react by doing battle over the dinner table in a fusillade of 1Buts. We can retreat to our corners and impose a no-buts policy that leads to a day of uncomfortable silences. Or we can apply the Two But Rule and embrace all our wonderful buts together. #2Buts

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to consult your personal copy of “The Two But Rule: Turn Negative Thinking Into Positive Solutions” to help until January 24, when it hits bookstores.

But in the meantime, if you’re a subscriber, below is an excerpt from Chapter 1 — Embracing Your But — that should help with your holiday interventions.

Updates From Last Week

Praise for The Two But Rule

It was such a pleasure to announce the people that took time out of their very busy schedules to read the early copy of the book and review it. Here are the four that Wiley selected for inclusion on the back cover:

 “In a world of boring business books, The Two But Rule is a surprising page-turner that delivers a refreshing way to embrace contrary viewpoints and break the cycle of inertia that plagues our national discourse. It’s an approach that both journalists and decision-makers alike might use to better explore problems and solve them.” 

— Jack Speer, NPR News Anchor

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 “No buts about it—The Two But Rule brings the art of critical thinking into the 21st century. Not only will you have fun reading this, you really will improve your problem-solving skills.” ​

— Geoffrey Moore, Author, Speaker, Advisor

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 “The Two But Rule is based on an idea that I reacted to by thinking, ‘But this is ridiculous.’ Then, once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop because, well, I kept finding myself thinking, ‘But he does such a good job of convincing me that he’s right.’ BOOM! John Wolpert snagged me with that magical second but. I am a huge fan of this book—it’s useful, timeless, and just plain fun to read.” ​

— Robert I. Sutton, New York Times bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule and (with Huggy Rao) The Friction Project 

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 “Wolpert creates a memorable way to embrace Momentum Thinking in your innovation process. This technique opens up new possibilities for organizations of all sizes, harnessing the energy of critics and nay-sayers to catapult teams in new and better directions.” 

— Henry Chesbrough, Professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and author of Open Innovation 

“Your Daily But” Launched (With YouTube Playlist)

Last week, I started writing the ‘Your Daily But’ series on LinkedIn, and I think it went pretty well. Folks seemed to like it, and it’s a good rhythm for me leading up to the book launch on January 24 and the speaking/workshop tour to come.

By the way, if you know of an event or company activity that could use a 2Buts speaker, moderator or coach to help kick things off on the right foot, reach out or book me at jwolpert.com. (I do weddings and bar mitzvahs.) ;)

What made the Daily Buts especially fun for me was generating the associated videos with ai.invideo.io. Here’s the playlist on the new Two But Rule YouTube Channel. Crazy right? Let me know what you think and whether you’d like to see these summarized each week here in the Substack.

Join Us In Raleigh for the First Book Signing

The Two But Rule will be available in both print, Kindle and audio versions online. It will also be available at your local Barnes & Noble.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to support independent bookstores. So we invite you to join us at 7 pm on Thursday, January 25th at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. Tickets include a signed copy of The Two But Rule and a seat in the reserved section. I’ll sign and personalize books after the program. Reserve your seat here:

John Wolpert | The Two But Rule (IN STORE) | Quail Ridge Books

And now…Your Exclusive Excerpt

If you’re not a subscriber and can’t see the content below, preorder the book to get a free subscription or use this special link to break out of the normal Substack pricing and get your subscription for whatever you can afford.

[If you are able to see the content below, please do not copy or send to others. This is a special early preview just for subscribers of 2buts.com.]