What is Effectuation?

Effectuation was discovered by Dr. Saras Sarasvathy in the late 1990s at Carnegie Mellon through research with 27 expert entrepreneurs. It's a teachable decision-making method that transforms people from employees who follow systems to owners who create opportunities.

Effectuation is a teachable decision-making method. Instead of starting with goals and finding means, it starts with what you have - your skills, knowledge, and network - and creates opportunities from there.

It's built on five practical principles that anyone can learn and apply. What makes it powerful is that it proves entrepreneurial thinking isn't inborn talent - it's a learnable skill set that transforms you from someone who executes others' plans to someone who creates their own opportunities and thinks like an owner.

For franchise organizations, this is powerful because it teaches franchisees to think beyond just executing the corporate playbook. While they follow your proven systems, effectuation helps them identify local market opportunities, build strategic partnerships, and adapt to their specific market conditions - all while staying within your brand framework.

Instead of having franchisees who simply operate according to manual, you develop franchisees who think like true business owners, driving growth and innovation at the local level while strengthening the overall franchise system.