1. Literacy — Understand the relevant concepts, language, history, boundaries, evidence, actors, and context.
2. Sensemaking — Distinguish symptoms from causes, understand systems and mechanisms, compare explanations, and build working models.
3. Positioning — Decide what matters, establish criteria, identify priorities, and form a point of view.
4. Leverage — Identify where change may be possible, who can influence it, and which mechanisms are promising.
5. Intervention — Act, observe what happens, adapt, and repeat.

Update: September 3, 2026