The RBG Method
The Read · Build · Grow method helps you approach business books with discernment so you can identify useful ideas, ignore what doesn’t fit, and apply what matters.
Business books are not instruction manuals
Business books contain many ideas, observations, and frameworks.
But they are not designed to be followed step-by-step or adopted wholesale.
Every business operates under different:
• constraints
• resources
• timing
• priorities
What works well in one context may not work in another.
The goal of the RBG method is to help you read with enough awareness to recognize which ideas deserve attention and which ones should simply be noted and left behind.
Reading for evaluation
When using the RBG method, the goal is not to absorb every idea.
Instead, you learn to ask questions like:
• Where might this idea apply in my business?
• Why might this idea not work here?
• What conditions would make it useful?
• What risks should be considered?
This process builds the ability to evaluate ideas rather than simply consume them.
Not every idea needs to be applied
Readers may feel pressure to implement everything they learn.
The RBG method takes a different approach.
Valid outcomes include:
• applying a small piece of an idea
• saving an idea for later
• deciding the idea does not fit your situation
• learning what not to do
All of these outcomes improve decision-making.
Ideas lead to experiments
In Read · Build · Grow, ideas are not treated as instructions.
They are treated as starting points for small experiments.
A useful idea might lead to:
• a small test
• a short-term experiment
• a potential habit
Over time, the ideas that prove valuable become part of how you run your business.
Now that you understand the philosophy behind the RBG method, the next step is learning how the reading process is structured.
The reading cycle explains how each book is explored over time using a consistent rhythm.