Tension at the Center of Strategy
Every great strategy creates 'it might not work' tension — the possibility a customer falls in love with.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 88%
Godin distinguishes tension (productive) from stress (harmful): stress is wanting two incompatible things at once, while tension is the 'it might not work' feeling at the heart of every art form and innovation. When you launch a product claiming it can do X, the customer imagines their life if it were true and falls in love with that possibility — creating tension around whether you told the truth. Great strategy deliberately generates this tension and then resolves it by keeping the promise.
Origin
Seth Godin's book 'This is Strategy' (2024).
Core principles
- 01Tension and stress are not the same — stress is wanting two incompatible things; avoid it
- 02Tension is 'it might not work' — seek it
- 03Tension makes the other person complete the sentence in their head
- 04A product claim invites the customer to imagine and fall in love with a possibility
- 05The tension resolves only when you deliver the promised truth
How to run it
- 1
Distinguish tension from stress
Recognize stress as two conflicting needs at once (I want to leave / I need to stay) and avoid designing it in; recognize tension as the productive 'it might not work' state.
Watch out Don't confuse stress with tension — chasing stress harms people and products.
- 2
Make a claim that invites imagination
State what your product can do so the customer imagines what their life would be like if it were true, and lets them fall in love with that possibility.
Pro tip The gap between the promise and the customer's current reality is where tension lives.
- 3
Resolve the tension by telling the truth
Deliver on the claim so the tension ('did you tell the truth? will it work for them?') resolves in your favor and builds the brand.
Watch out Breaking the promise (the PF Flyers 'run away from the bully' letdown) destroys the tension and the trust.
In the wild
As a 10-year-old, Godin felt real tension buying PF Flyers, whose promise was that they'd finally make him fast enough to run from the bully. He was holding them to their promise — and they didn't tell the truth.
→ A broken promise turned productive tension into disappointment, illustrating why the truth must back the claim.
Common mistakes
Designing stress instead of tension
Building conflicting demands into a product or team creates harmful stress, not the generative tension that drives innovation.
Creating tension you can't resolve truthfully
Inviting a customer to fall in love with a possibility you can't deliver breaks the promise the one time you're allowed to break it.
Is it for you?
Best for
Product marketers and founders crafting a launch narrative or positioning that needs to create desire.
Not ideal for
Situations demanding literal, tension-free clarity (e.g. safety instructions, compliance copy).
From the transcript
“stress is two things at the same time I want to leave I need to stay”
“tension is at the heart of every art form and every Innovation tension is it might not work tension is and the other person says…”
“we have have this thing that can do X and now the person is imagining what their life might be like if that were true…”
From the episode
Seth Godin's best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more