Cancer Surgery Formula

The cancer surgery formula is a decision heuristic: cut out the bad with clean margins and do not try to save the tumour. In business and strategy it means exiting losing positions, killing failing projects, or divesting bad assets decisively — without half-measures that leave the problem in place. The metaphor comes from oncology: incomplete resection raises the risk of recurrence. Applied to capital and attention, the idea is that marginal effort to "fix" a clearly negative‑value unit often has lower return than reallocating to positive‑value uses. The formula does not say never try to turn something around; it says when the diagnosis is clear and the cost of continued investment exceeds the expected benefit, cut. Sunk costs are irrelevant; opportunity cost is what matters.

Look for situations where a team or leader keeps investing in a known loser — a product, a division, a hire — because of past investment or hope. The signal is repeated restructuring, "one more quarter," or emotional attachment to the original bet.

Indecision in the face of a clear negative is a choice — to keep burning resources. The cancer surgery formula is the courage to cut and reallocate.

The cancer surgery formula: cut out the bad with clean margins; do not try to save the tumour. In strategy and capital allocation, exit losing positions decisively and reallocate to better uses. Ignore sunk costs; use opportunity cost. When the diagnosis is clear, act.