The Reach

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here, Today, the secret behind how the best teams ship faster and waste less. Have you ever: Lifted a shelf up to the wall to see if it actually fits before you drill the holes? Tried out a new recipe just for yourself before cooking a big meal for a bunch of hungry dinner guests? Maybe you've even stuck tape on the floor to mark the footprint of a cupboard you're thinking about buying, so you can see how it feels when you have to walk around it? (Shout out to...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here. Today: are you making this expensive mistake when briefing employees or contractors? Subscribe for more. "I would like sorbet, please!"“Sorbet coming up! Hey, wanna try a tiny little scoop of the sorbet first? You’re gonna slurp your way through 4 big dollops of this tangy frozen water, so let's make sure you like it ... Whaddya think?”“Hang on, this isn’t creamy!”“That's right, it’s sorbet. The sorbet you just tasted is literally as creamy as it’s possible...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here, Today, a chance to see real strategy consulting right before your eyes. People are often asking us to see Multiverse Mapping in action. So a couple of weeks ago, we tried something that we'd never done before. We did a live strategy consulting session for a real person with a real business challenge in front of a real audience. Strategy with stakes. Mapping with nowhere to hide. First in the hot seat was Pragati Sinha. (Thanks again, Pragati!) In this email...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here, A few people told us they were confused when an octopus-themed email landed in their inbox. Maybe you've already hovered over the unsubscribe button. Maybe you simply scrolled past. Let's take a moment to get reacquainted. Below you'll find a list of the entry points where you might have come across us in the first place. You'll probably recognise at least one! (If none of them rings a bell, we're Tom Kerwin and Corissa Nunn. Maybe you've worked with us, seen...

Hello hello, Today, what if your own brain is sabotaging your best business ideas? Tom here. Today I found myself playing a game of psychological ping pong, and I bet you'll recognise exactly what I'm talking about. I was thinking about how we frame what we sell at Crown & Reach. I have a hunch that I sometimes get too deep in the philosophy of product and building. Some of our stuff feels like going to the gym – you know it'd be good to make time to do it properly, but there's urgent stuff...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here, At last the time is nigh. After almost a year of chewing, digesting, ruminating and then digesting some more, we're back with part 3 of our Vision Chasm series. In part 1 we introduced the concept. In part 2 we looked at a real-world situation where setting a vision had unintended consequences. Today you're about to meet Bunny Ducking. And we’re going to look at how teams make effective progress without a singular official vision — or sometimes in spite of...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here. Today we're getting all hot and bothered about assumption mapping. First though, a spot of housekeeping: Our newsletter, podcast and YouTube channel are audience-supported efforts. Want to help keep it all alive, weird and free? Buy us a coffee Once upon a time, at a well-known challenger bank, a senior designer ran an assumption mapping workshop. He knew the score. He'd facilitated plenty of workshops, designed plenty of experiments, and he was damned good at...

Hello hello, Tom & Corissa here. Today, how to prioritise like teams who actually ship on time. As you may or may not know, there's a scene in The Lego Movie where everyone’s trying to build a spaceship. Emmet’s following some rather old-fashioned instructions. Wyldstyle’s going rogue with a “cooler” design. Batman’s insisting on “black, or very dark grey” bricks. And Unikitty’s adding rainbows because, well, why not? The result? A chaotic, incoherent mess that barely holds together. This is...

You too can take advantage of the asymmetry of adaptiveness Originally published via Substack, May 09, 2025. Hello! On Monday I’m running another Intro to Multiverse Mapping. Spaces are free but limited, and it’s a live event that won’t be recorded. It’s the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to learn how to make a Multiverse Map. Register here. I’m also running Intro to Multiverse Mapping at Delta CX Hive 2025, on 27th May 2025, alongside a host of speakers you’ll want to see. (You can get...

An updated repost about a meeting format you should really try. Originally published via Substack, Mar 04 2025. ↓ Today, a new stand up format to try that will make your team more strategic, increase accountability, and decrease the need for micromanagement. OK here we go. The Context: Progress Updates (mostly) Sucked When I started leading teams, that meant sitting in “Progress Update” style meetings. Too many of these meetings were a firehose of technical nitty gritty. Often, it sounded...