Comment by eries

Academics have spent the last 15 years attempting to measure these effects, and it's just a very hard measurement problem. There are so many confounding variables. I would say the early evidence is supportive of the thesis, broadly speaking. In the long run, I expect we will eventually be able to speak about this in a much more nuanced way. For example, some of the elements of LS are much easier to test than others, and those have been found to be broadly effective.

This project may take decades, and yet leaders need guidance and useful mental models in the meantime. So, to me, the much more useful data is the literally thousands of founders (and other leaders) who have reported that they have found the framework useful in their own lives and companies. They may all be deluded, of course, but at some point I think we have to acknowledge that _something_ useful is going on here.

In any event, I don't give it that much thought. If a new theory emerges that proves more useful, or if new research gives entrepreneurs new and better tools, I'd be delighted. My only loyalty is to the truth.