The Power of the 2 × 2 Matrix: Using 2 × 2 Thinking to Solve Business Problems and Make Better Decisions

Chapter 2. Form, Method, and Mastery: 2 × 2 Thinking as Dialectical Process

To learn about change you can study Hegel,

But it's plain to see if you toast a bagel.

You put it in a toaster that's electric.

The bagel heats up; everything gets hectic.

Then it pops up, and that's a dialectic.

—Jack Lucero Fleck, from Dialectics for Kids, "Everything Changes Bit by Bit"

At first, 2 × 2 modeling appears rather straightforward and obvious: pick a couple of variables influencing something that matters, like profitability and time, place them on a standard x-y grid, and you're done. Right! But as most readers know, this is unlikely to produce anything of insight or value. The bare essentials of matrix building have been attended to, but all the detail and nuance ...