Are you really questioning the status quo? A 10x improvement isn’t a 1% improvement repeated ten times. It’s a step change. The biggest innovations in history didn’t come from doing more of what already existed, just a little better. They came from questioning assumptions that everyone else accepted as true.

From challenging invisible rules. From refusing to accept defaults.

Most people optimize within the system. The people who create 10x outcomes redesign the system. That’s why first principles thinking matters. Instead of asking, “How do we improve this?” they ask, “Why does it work this way in the first place?”

The answers often reveal constraints that were never real; only inherited. Today, we’re in uncharted waters. The AI hype is real, and it will create transformation. Most organizations will wait for templates and use cases before they act.

Forward-thinking organizations are doing the opposite. They’re starting from a blank slate. Instead of defending existing practices, they’re questioning them. Most businesses I work with treat AI as an add-on to existing workflows and processes. What happens? Not much.

Because they’re optimizing within the system.

The real opportunity lies in rethinking the system itself from an AI-first perspective. What happens then? They eliminate or enhance entire workflows. They remove constraints. They unlock both productivity and customer value.

For example, we helped a therapy clinic save 90+ minutes per day and reduce costs by delegating session notes, reports, and follow-ups to AI; work that previously required two people. Now, the therapist receives structured patient notes automatically, which are added to a repository containing patient history. The AI also suggests insights and next steps, which the therapist has found genuinely useful.

For the therapist, AI becomes a collaborator, not a replacement. For the patient, this translates into better care, more attention, and stronger follow-up.

Is this a 10x improvement? Maybe not. But it’s a significant improvement that opens the door to other enhancements to the patient experience. More importantly, it opens the door to a conversation about what else we can delegate to AI that doesn’t affect the human-to-human interaction.

Remember, defaults are often just accumulated history, not laws of physics.

Bottom line: If your strategy is built on assumptions that no one questions, you’re probably competing for a 1% improvement. If you’re willing to challenge the assumptions everyone else takes for granted, that’s where 10x opportunities begin.