--- title: "Four Actions Framework Template (ERRC Grid)" description: "A Four Actions Framework template with the eliminate, reduce, raise, and create questions explained, an ERRC grid example, and how to run the exercise." canonical_url: "https://builderscamp.com/guides/template-library/four-actions-framework-template" date_published: "2026-09-15" date_modified: "2026-09-15" author: "Andre Albuquerque" publisher: "Builders Camp" guide_class: "template-library" --- # Four Actions Framework Template **TL;DR:** The Four Actions Framework comes from W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy, developed at INSEAD as a tool for breaking the assumed trade-off between differentiation and low cost. Instead of accepting an industry's existing rules about what a product must include to compete, the framework asks four disciplined questions about the factors an industry has always competed on. The four questions, and the grid built from them, are commonly called the ERRC grid: which factors should be eliminated that the industry has long competed on but that no longer add real value; which factors should be reduced well below the industry standard; which factors should be raised well above the industry standard; and which factors should be created that the industry has never offered at all. Eliminating and reducing lower a business's costs, while raising and creating drive a leap in value for buyers, which is how the framework claims to break the cost versus differentiation trade-off rather than just choosing one side of it. An example ERRC grid for a hypothetical PM certification product competing against university style credentials: eliminate, semester length commitments and academic prerequisites. Reduce, the amount of theoretical coursework unconnected to a real deliverable. Raise, the frequency of live mentor contact compared to a typical online course. Create, a certification tied to a graded practical challenge reviewed by a real practitioner, something neither university programs nor most bootcamps currently offer. Use this template during a strategy or positioning exercise, specifically when a team suspects it is competing head to head on the same factors as every other option in the category rather than genuinely differentiating. It fits naturally after a value curve analysis, which shows visually where an industry's offerings all look similar, since the four actions are the mechanism for actually changing that shape rather than just observing it. Fill in the eliminate and reduce columns first; most teams find raise and create easier to brainstorm, but starting with what to cut forces an honest conversation about which industry standard features are actually costing money without earning loyalty. Limit the grid to ten to fifteen factors total across all four columns, matching the same discipline used in value curve analysis, since a longer list usually means the team has not yet separated what buyers actually notice from what the industry simply assumes matters. The most common mistake is filling in raise and create with aspirational ideas that sound exciting but do not connect to what the eliminate and reduce columns freed up in cost or focus, producing a wish list rather than a coherent strategy. A second common mistake is running this exercise without first mapping the current value curve, which means the team has no shared, visual baseline for what raise, create, eliminate, and reduce are actually being measured against. Builders Camp's Product Strategy bootcamp pairs this framework with value curve analysis for the same competitive positioning module. Both templates live in the Builders Camp templates library, included in every Membership alongside the rest of the catalog. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does ERRC stand for? Eliminate, Reduce, Raise, Create, the four questions the Four Actions Framework asks about the factors an industry competes on. ### Who created the Four Actions Framework? W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne of INSEAD, as part of Blue Ocean Strategy, a strategy approach aimed at creating uncontested market space rather than competing head to head. ### How does this framework relate to value curve analysis? Value curve analysis maps where an industry's offerings currently look similar; the Four Actions Framework and its ERRC grid are the mechanism teams use to actually change that shape once the similarity is visible. ### How many factors should an ERRC grid include? Ten to fifteen buyer relevant factors total across all four columns; a longer list usually signals the team has not yet separated what buyers actually notice from assumed industry standards. ### Which Builders Camp bootcamp teaches this framework? Product Strategy, which pairs the Four Actions Framework with value curve analysis in its competitive positioning module. ## Sources - [Blue Ocean Strategy: Four Actions Framework, official tool page](https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/tools/four-actions-framework/) - [Builders Camp: Product Strategy bootcamp page](https://builderscamp.com/bootcamps/product-strategy) - [Builders Camp: Membership page (templates and frameworks included)](https://builderscamp.com/membership) ## How this guide was made Researched from Builders Camp's bootcamp, track and masterclass material and the sources listed on this page, drafted with AI, and fact-checked against every source cited.