Reality Check
In Pursuit of the Right Questions
Before you ask a better question, you have to see what's actually there — a book about attention, perspective, and questioning the assumptions shaping what you see.
A new edition by Carlo Mahfouz. Arrives March 23, 2027.
The first edition was read by 1,000+ people questioning the default answers.
A Reality Check begins with attention.
Ask better questions.
To ask the right questions is to pay attention.
See what is.
A reality check is a clear reading of the now.
Listen beyond yourself.
True listening begins when you’re no longer thinking.
First edition, 2022 · Out of print
Where it began.
Reality Check was first published in May 2022. That edition is now out of print. The new edition carries it forward as Volume I of The Founders Truth, a trilogy for unconventional founders building against the grain. This first volume takes on ambiguity: the moment more data stops bringing clarity, and seeing what is actually there matters more than having the answer. Each volume stands on its own, and all three are part of the same story.
Explore the trilogyPraise for the first edition
In their words
Ola Helland
UX Design Manager at Laerdal Medical and Writer of the comedy/science TV-show Brille
Reality Check is a book I wish I had 15 years ago.
Elvin Turner
Best-selling Corporate Innovation Author of Be Less Zombie
A personal and thoughtful reflection on how to see more clearly in order to contribute more effectively to the world around us.
Katrijn van Oudheusden
Community Builder and Mentor at NDLCA & Author of Selfless Leadership
He reverse-engineered what it takes to “clearly read the now” by asking the right questions … and not necessarily even trying to find an answer.
Why I wrote Reality Check
Nine principles. Three lenses.
Context. Time. Observer.
Reality is never experienced in isolation. These nine principles explore what changes when you shift the context, change your relationship with time, or notice the observer doing the looking.
Explore the principles1. Leverage Scope
Every problem is defined by the constraints and rules that we set. How we leverage scope determines how we can position ourselves for success.
2. Tease The Extremes
There is almost always a context which sits on the edge which is commandeering our attention and we are oblivious to it.
3. Be Conscious of The Current Context
Change and context are interconnected and heavily dependent on each other. One cannot exist without the other as they influence each other.
0 of 9 principles discovered
The answers aren't always the problem.
Sometimes, we're simply asking the wrong questions.
Reality Check is an invitation to pay closer attention — to what is, what you're assuming, and what you might be missing.