# The knotted rope.

> What untangling a business feels like from the inside.

Source: https://andrewsponsler.com/garden/the-knotted-rope

Here's what the work feels like from Andrew's side. You hand him a knotted-up rope, and he pulls it taut until every kink works out.

People finish realizing they didn't actually know how their own business worked. Then they do. And they feel dialed.

## Why a rope

A knot isn't broken. Everything is still there: the customers, the team, the offer, the money. It's just tangled, so pulling harder makes it worse. Most founders respond to a tangled business by working harder, which tightens the knot.

The move is the opposite. Slow down, find where each strand goes, and straighten it. That's See it (https://andrewsponsler.com/garden/see-own-run): mapping how the business actually works before changing anything.