Traction_ Get a Grip on Your Business

1. 1Baseline first. Rate accountability in your organization from 1 to 10. The source says most new EOS clients land around 4. Then mark yourself on the Organizational Checkup statements that test this construct: #12 (everyone has Rocks and is focused on them), #13 (everyone is in a regular Meeting Pulse), #14 (all meetings share the same day, time and agenda, and start and end on time). Your gaps set the work order.
2. 2Get the leadership team aligned before assigning anything. Answer the eight vision questions, where #7 is 'What are your quarterly Rocks?' and #8 is 'What are your issues?'. The source recommends a full one- or two-day off-site for this. Rocks set without a shared vision become five variations of the company's direction.
3. 3Set the company's Rocks as clear 90-day priorities, three to seven per quarter. Write each so that the owner and the finish line are unambiguous. The test is that everyone knows what they are accountable for in the coming 90 days. If a Rock needs an explanation to be understood, rewrite it.
4. 4Push Rocks to everyone, not only the leadership team. Checkup #12 says 'everyone has Rocks (1 to 7 priorities per quarter).' The result is a 90-Day World in which each person's focus is visible and finite.
5. 5Install the weekly Level 10 Meeting first. Fix one day, one time, one agenda. Start on time and end on time. The source says the agenda is built around conflict and resolution, so the meeting exists to surface and settle issues, not to report status.
6. 6Layer the rest of the Meeting Pulse: weekly, quarterly, annually, at all levels of the organization. Each team runs the same rhythm so everyone stays focused, aligned and in communication.
7. 7Feed the meetings with the other components. Each person has at least one weekly number on the Scorecard (checkup #19), and issues are identified, discussed and solved for the long-term greater good (checkup #15). Rocks, numbers and issues are then reviewed on the same schedule.
8. 8Re-rate accountability and re-score checkup items 12 to 15 after a quarter. A rising score and a tighter meeting rhythm confirm the discipline is holding.

The passages do not describe a Rocks-and-meetings rollout step by step, so this walk-through applies the source's own checkup to a typical case. A leader scores accountability at 4, which is the typical starting rating the source cites. Checkup #12 fails because only the leader has priorities. #13 fails because meetings are ad hoc. #14 fails because agendas change and meetings run long. The fix is to hold the off-site, answer vision question #7, and set three to seven company Rocks. Each person then gets their own 1 to 7, and all teams start the same weekly Level 10 on a fixed day and time. For a real reference point, Curt Whipple (C. Curtis Financial) reports that he was ready to shrink from 10 employees to five and his business owned him. After implementing the concepts he had 12 employees, revenue up almost 100 percent in two years, and spent 50 percent of his year in Nashville with family. The testimonial credits the whole system, not Rocks or meetings alone, so treat it as an outcome reference, not proof of cause.

• If accountability scores around 4 or lower, start with Rocks and the weekly meeting before adding new initiatives. The source names Traction as the typical weakest link and says vision without traction is hallucination.
• If a person has more than seven Rocks, or the company has more than seven, cut. The source's range is three to seven (checkup: 1 to 7 per person), and 'less is more' is the governing principle.
• If a meeting changes day, time or agenda, or runs long, fix the rhythm before the content. Checkup #14 requires the same day, time and agenda, and on-time starts and ends.
• If a meeting feels like a waste of time, check whether real issues are being discussed and resolved. The Level 10 is built around conflict and resolution.
• If a team lacks Rocks or a weekly number, treat it as a Traction gap. Checkup #12 and #19 expect every person to have both.

• Setting Rocks without a shared vision. The tell: leadership members describe the company direction differently, and their Rocks point different ways.
• Too many priorities. The tell: Rocks exceed seven, nothing finishes in 90 days, and staff go numb to new initiatives, as the source warns happens with quick fixes.
• Rocks that live only at the top. The tell: front-line people can't state what they are accountable for in the next 90 days.
• Inconsistent meetings. The tell: the day, time or agenda moves, people arrive late, and the meeting runs over.
• Meetings that avoid conflict. The tell: status updates fill the hour while the same unresolved issues return week after week.

• ▸Accountability score (1-10): Your honest rating today; the source notes most start near 4.
• ▸Checkup scores for #12, #13, #14: Score each statement; the lowest becomes the first fix.
• ▸Quarter and 90-day end date: Name the quarter and the date the Rocks are judged complete.
• ▸Company Rocks (3-7): List each as a clear 90-day priority with one named owner.
• ▸Individual Rocks (1-7 each): For every person, list priorities tied to a company Rock.
• ▸Weekly number per person: Assign at least one Scorecard measurable to each person.
• ▸Level 10 schedule: Fix the day, time and location, with the same agenda each week, starting and ending on time.
• ▸Quarterly and annual meeting dates: Put the full Meeting Pulse on the calendar for every team.
• ▸Issues list carry-over: Record issues raised in the week that were identified, discussed and solved, and those still open.

1. 1Write the vision down and test it against Checkup statement 1: it must be in writing, properly communicated, and shared by everyone in the company. Score it 1 to 5. A score below 5 means alignment is not yet in place.
2. 2Define core values and make them operational. Hire, review, reward, and fire around them, as Checkup statement 2 requires. Keep them visible: one client names each conference room after a core value, and McKinley gave every employee a Gumby doll labeled with the value's traits.
3. 3Name your Core Focus (core business) and treat everything else as 'shiny stuff.' Competitors, new ideas, new products, and poor advice that looks like good advice are the common distractions. Keep people, systems, and processes aligned to the Core Focus (Checkup statement 3).
4. 4State the 10-Year Target and communicate it regularly. Checkup statement 4 asks that it be clear, communicated regularly, and shared by all.
5. 5Set the company Rocks first, then the leadership team's Rocks, using the clarified vision as the filter. Limit the number of priorities, because when everything is important, nothing is important.
6. 6Communicate the company and leadership Rocks to the entire organization, then have each person set theirs. The source says this cascade creates alignment, and everyone should know what they are accountable for in the coming 90 days.
7. 7Fit the Rocks into the day in order: Rocks first, then gravel (day-to-day responsibilities), then sand (interruptions), then water (everything else). Rocks put in last will not fit.
8. 8Retake the Organizational Checkup every 90 days. Steady progress in the overall percentage is the goal. Most organizations score below 50 percent; above 80 percent makes the company a well-oiled machine.

The source's clearest alignment case is core value fit in acquisitions. The author has worked with clients that acquired companies, merged, or were acquired. Five of his clients were acquired, in every case at unusually high multiples, and the acquirers called them the best-run small companies they had seen. He credits the success of those deals, and their continued success, to core value alignment. His advice to every client is to start due diligence with core value fit: if there's a fit, everything flows; if not, don't move forward. The same logic applies inside one company. Alignment starts with shared values and a shared vision, and the Rocks cascade then turns them into 90-day priorities that each person owns. The source does not give a measured before/after for a single company, so treat the acquisition rule as the evidenced case and the Rocks cascade as the mechanism.

• If a new opportunity, product, or idea appears that is not your Core Focus, then treat it as 'shiny stuff' and decline or defer it. Do not let it distract the leadership team.
• If someone cannot state the vision, Core Focus, or 10-Year Target, then the communication has failed. Re-communicate before adding any new initiative.
• If the Rocks list is long, then cut it. Limiting priorities increases the intensity of focus and raises output.
• If you are considering a merger or acquisition, then test core value fit first. No fit means do not move forward.
• If your Checkup score has not risen after 90 days, then re-examine which statements scored lowest and address those first. Do not expect a jump from 20 to 80 percent overnight.

• Vision exists only in the owner's head. The tell: employees give different answers when asked where the company is going, or Checkup statement 1 scores low.
• Core values are written but not used. The tell: hiring, reviews, rewards, and firing do not reference them, and they appear nowhere in daily life.
• Chasing every opportunity because one business succeeded or because of boredom. The tell: new products or markets keep appearing that don't connect to the Core Focus.
• Too many priorities, so Rocks are not truly prioritized. The tell: everyone is busy but no one can name the few things that matter most this quarter.
• Rocks set only at the top, never cascaded. The tell: employees do not know what they are accountable for in the next 90 days.
• Layering new initiatives on a numb staff. The tell: people have seen many quick-fix remedies that did not last, and they now ignore new ones.

• ▸Vision in writing (Y/N, score 1-5): Is it written, communicated, and shared by everyone?
• ▸Core values (list) and where each is used: Note how each is applied in hiring, reviewing, rewarding, and firing.
• ▸Core Focus (one line): State your core business. Score 1-5 on how well people, systems, and processes are aligned to it.
• ▸10-Year Target (one line): Note when it was last communicated to the whole company.
• ▸Company Rocks (list, keep it few): Name the top priorities for the next 90 days.
• ▸Leadership team Rocks: Name each leader and their Rocks, tied to a company Rock.
• ▸Individual Rocks rolled out: List each employee's Rocks and confirm each person can state what they are accountable for.
• ▸Shiny stuff declined this quarter: List the distractions turned down and why.
• ▸Checkup score vs. last 90 days: Record the overall percentage and the lowest-scoring statements to address next.

1. 1Baseline the state first. Rate accountability across your organization from 1 to 10. New EOS clients typically land around 4, so a 4 is a starting point, not a verdict. Also score yourself on the 1-to-5 Organizational Checkup. Write both scores down so you can compare them later.
2. 2Fix structure before people. Build the Accountability Chart so every role and responsibility has a clear seat. The source says to structure the company the right way first, then place people. Test it by asking whether each responsibility in the business sits in exactly one seat.
3. 3Test each person against the seat. Run the People Analyzer: does the person share your core values (right person), and do they pass GWC (right seat)? GWC means they get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it. All three are required, and the source says there is no gray area.
4. 4Give every person one number. Build a weekly Scorecard of five to 15 high-level company numbers. Then assign each person a clear, meaningful, manageable number they are accountable for on a regular basis. Review it weekly so you see problems as they happen, not in a financial statement long after the fact.
5. 5Give every person Rocks. Rocks are clear 90-day priorities that tell each person what they are accountable for in the coming 90 days. Everyone in the organization has them, not just the leadership team.
6. 6Install a Meeting Pulse at all levels. Regular meetings keep everyone focused, aligned, and in communication. Use them to review numbers and Rocks so commitments are visibly kept or visibly missed.
7. 7Treat what surfaces as issues, not blame. Clear roles, numbers, and Rocks create transparency: an open organization with nowhere to hide. Capture each problem that surfaces as an issue and solve it. A handful of issue types recur, so you get faster at spotting them.
8. 8Back it with documented processes. Capture each core process in a Three-Step Process Documenter, then train everyone to follow it. When a result slips, you can ask whether people are skipping steps, rather than arguing about personalities.

Zoup! Fresh Soup Company grew from five locations to just under 50 open and awarded. Founder and CEO Eric Ersher credits the concepts with giving the company 'traction and accountability' and with creating 'a strong, healthy, and skilled leadership team with clarity around the company's vision and each member's contribution to that vision.' The mechanism he names is role clarity: the tools 'clarify roles for the team and also for franchisees.' Read through the steps above, the sequence is: define roles in the structure, make each leader's contribution to the vision explicit, and extend the same clarity to franchisees so their expectations are as defined as the internal team's. Bob Verdun of CFI describes the same effect: 'clarity of responsibilities and problem-solving frameworks' turned an already profitable, growing company into one with explosive growth through the recession. The source does not give the weekly mechanics inside either company. Treat both as evidence that clear responsibility came first and growth followed.

• If someone repeatedly misses their number or Rock, check the seat before the person: is the role clearly defined on the Accountability Chart, and do they get it, want it, and have the capacity (GWC)? If any GWC answer is no, it is a right-seat or right-person problem, not a motivation problem.
• If you cannot name one weekly number or one 90-day Rock for a person, the role is not clear enough to hold anyone accountable. Fix the role definition first.
• If the Scorecard grows past about 15 numbers, cut it. It is meant to be five to 15 high-level numbers, and a longer list stops being a pulse you can read at a glance.
• If a problem surfaces in a review, log it as an issue and solve it rather than ignoring it. Transparency only works if surfaced problems get solved.
• If staff give you different answers about the vision or their priorities, treat that as an accountability gap and tighten expectations before adding more goals.

• Vision without traction: you hold a planning session and feel aligned, but no one has Rocks or a weekly number. The tell is that three months later nobody can state their priorities.
• Managing personalities instead of metrics: you judge people by impressions and emotion, not by numbers. The tell is that performance debates turn subjective and the facts are not on the table.
• People in the wrong seats: the structure is sound but individuals do not get it, want it, or have the capacity. The tell is repeated slipped commitments in the same seat, regardless of who is told to try harder.
• Learning about problems late: you rely on financial statements and ask a half dozen people for the real story. The tell is that you discover bad news after the fact, not in a weekly review.
• Unclear roles and unequal expectations: employees, vendors, or partners 'don't seem to listen, understand you, or follow through.' The tell is that you are not all on the same page, which is a clarity failure before it is a follow-through failure.

• ▸Name and seat: who they are and which Accountability Chart seat they hold.
• ▸Roles and responsibilities: the specific responsibilities that belong to this seat and nobody else's.
• ▸Right person? State yes or no on whether they share your core values, with one line of evidence.
• ▸GWC: yes or no on each of get it, want it, and capacity to do it.
• ▸Weekly number: the one clear, meaningful, manageable number they own, and where it sits on the Scorecard.
• ▸Current 90-day Rock(s): the priorities they are accountable for this quarter.
• ▸Meeting Pulse slot: the recurring meeting where they report their number and Rock status.
• ▸Open issues: obstacles surfaced about this seat or person, to be solved rather than hidden.
• ▸Accountability score: your 1-to-10 rating for this person or team, with the date, to compare against your baseline.

1. 1Score the baseline. Have each leadership team member privately rank Organizational Checkup statement 11 ('Our leadership team is open and honest, and demonstrates a high level of trust') and statement 15 ('All teams clearly identify, discuss, and solve issues for the long-term greater good of the company') from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong). Compare the spread. Most organizations operate below 50 percent overall, so expect low numbers.
2. 2Make the single expectation explicit. State that the only requirement of the team is to be open and honest with each other. Tell them the organization will mirror the team: 'As goes the leadership team, so goes the company.' Treat this as a precondition, not a goal for later.
3. 3Go first. Trust starts with you. In the next leadership meeting, openly admit a mistake or an issue of your own and work through it with the team. This sets the tone: raising an issue is safe as long as it gets corrected.
4. 4Remove the fear. Name what people fear (losing their job, 'some other terrible ramification') and say plainly that raising an issue carries neither. You cannot get openness while that fear exists. Say it out loud: no one has ever died from being open about issues.
5. 5Start with the leadership team meeting. Keep an Issues List and put every real obstacle on it, including the uncomfortable ones. Then run each issue through identify, discuss, and solve on the Issues Solving Track. Do not drop an issue until it is solved.
6. 6Test the list for usefulness. An Issues List that nobody puts anything useful on is meaningless. If the list holds only safe or trivial items, trust is the cause, not the list. Go back to steps 3 and 4.
7. 7Check that you are building a team and not a dictatorship. Confirm each leader has clear accountabilities and runs their department, and that all of you will fight for what is best for the company as a whole. Do not make every decision yourself.
8. 8Cascade it. Once the Accountability Chart is complete, the organization is a handful of teams. Make each team healthy, starting with leadership. As each team improves, watch issues flow more freely and trust rise. Rescore items 11 and 15 as the check.

The source gives no single trust turnaround story, so this combines a real data point with the book's own mechanism. Real data point: Zoup! founder Eric Ersher credits the EOS tools with helping create 'a strong, healthy, and skilled leadership team with clarity around the company's vision and each member's contribution,' while the company grew from five locations to just under 50. Mechanism, shown as an illustration: a CEO scores statement 11 as a 2 and statement 15 as a 2. In the next leadership meeting she names a decision she got wrong and puts it on the Issues List as her own item. She states that raising issues is safe as long as they are corrected. Her team then identifies, discusses, and solves it on the Issues Solving Track. The book's prediction is that others begin adding real items, the list fills with useful issues, and trust rises. The test comes at the next scoring, when items 11 and 15 should move up.

• If the Issues List is empty or full of trivial items, then treat it as a trust problem, not a list problem, and have the leader put a personal mistake on the list first.
• If anyone on the team fears job loss or other ramifications for raising issues, then fix that before adding any tool, because openness cannot coexist with it.
• If the leadership team is not open and honest, then do not try to fix the wider organization first. As goes the leadership team, so goes the company.
• If you are making most decisions yourself, then you are running a dictatorship, which is exhausting and caps growth. Put the right people in the right seats and let them run their areas.
• If an issue is raised, then it must be corrected. Raising it is safe only on the condition that it gets solved, so do not leave it open.

• The leader demands openness but never admits their own mistakes. The tell: the team stays quiet and issues surface only after they become crises.
• Treating the Issues List as a mechanical tool while the team stays guarded. The tell: the list exists but holds nothing useful.
• Raising an issue carries consequences, or the issue is never solved. The tell: people stop raising issues because nothing happens or someone gets blamed.
• Trying to build trust throughout the organization while leadership stays unhealthy. The tell: lower teams are told to be open while the leadership team stays guarded.
• Dictator-style leadership dressed as a team. The tell: department heads wait for the owner's decision and do not take initiative or fight for what is best for the company.

• ▸Date and team: record who is in the room and when.
• ▸Item 11 score (1-5) per member: each person ranks 'Our leadership team is open and honest, and demonstrates a high level of trust.'
• ▸Item 15 score (1-5) per member: each person ranks 'All teams clearly identify, discuss, and solve issues for the long-term greater good.'
• ▸Leader's own mistake or issue admitted this meeting: write what you disclosed, to show the tone you set.
• ▸Fears named: list any consequences people worry about for raising issues, and the explicit statement made to remove them.
• ▸Issues added to the Issues List this meeting: count them and note how many are truly useful (not trivial or safe).
• ▸Issues taken through identify, discuss, solve: list each issue and where it stands on the Issues Solving Track.
• ▸Decisions or areas delegated to a leader: note which areas you let someone else run.
• ▸Rescore next cycle: record the new item 11 and 15 scores and the change.

1. 1Name which of the five frustrations you carry today: lack of control (the business controls you), people (employees, customers, vendors or partners don't listen or follow through), profit (not enough), the ceiling (growth has stopped), nothing's working (staff numb to new initiatives). Write one sentence of evidence for each one you check. Most leaders carry one or more.
2. 2Set a baseline in the outcome terms the source uses: control, happiness, stress. Rate each 1-10 and add one concrete marker, such as time you control, hours or days away, or how you feel about the business. Curt Whipple's markers were poor health, high stress, and wanting to shrink from 10 employees to five.
3. 3Treat the frustrations as symptoms of a missing system, not as personal failings. The source says to turn the business into a self-sustaining organism. That requires skills, tools, and a system for people, processes, execution, management, and communication. Pick the tools that address your checked frustrations before adding anything new.
4. 4Direct your energy inward first. Pick one challenge inside the business that perpetuates the existing vision: a cultural project that boosts core values and people, a test of whether current products and services are still relevant, or a new offering in line with the core focus.
5. 5Run the listening loop. Interview your top clients on what is working and what is not. Take employees to lunch and ask the same questions. Log each answer as a frustration signal (people, ceiling, nothing's working) so the findings feed your plan.
6. 6If you feel pulled toward shiny stuff outside your core focus, apply the gate. Your leadership team must be supportive, and your integrator must be comfortable with your reduced time. The explored idea cannot drain people, cash, time, or energy the current company needs for its vision.
7. 7If the new idea is good but doesn't fit the core focus, give it its own company, resources, and integrator. Do not fold it into the current business, where stretched resources become the kiss of death.
8. 8Re-score the baseline on a fixed cadence, such as quarterly. Count reduced frustration only when the control, happiness, and stress scores move together with an observable change in how you spend your time.

StarTrax, a social event company providing entertainment for parties and events, stumbled into corporate event planning. That business demanded a different clientele, culture, and model, yet they pursued it anyway. Over three years they saw flat growth and struggled to run two businesses in one. The dual-headed company created too much complexity and drained resources, which is the control and nothing's-working frustration at work. They found an integrator to run the social business, made him a partner, and separated it. Each business then had its own focus and an integrator at the helm. StarTrax is now running well and growing. The second company, renamed pulse220, has grown 40 percent in each of the last two years. Frustration dropped because the structure changed, not because anyone worked harder.

• If you feel overwhelmed or stalled, then look for an internal challenge tied to the existing vision before launching anything external.
• If a new idea fits the core focus, then test it inside the company. If it doesn't fit, then start a separate company with its own resources.
• If your leadership team isn't supportive or your integrator isn't comfortable with your reduced time, then don't explore the outside idea yet.
• If the idea would draw on people, cash, or time the current company needs for its vision, then don't incorporate it. Stretched resources doom even great ideas.
• If your frustration is high and you're tempted to shrink or settle, as Curt Whipple was, then diagnose which of the five frustrations is driving it before cutting scope. More growth felt like more stress only because the system was missing.

• Treating frustration as a motivation problem and pushing with sheer will and brute force. The tell: you're working harder and the same frustrations keep returning.
• Chasing quick fixes and new initiatives. The tell: staff are numb to new initiatives and you're spinning your wheels.
• Bolting a shiny new idea onto the current company. The tell: flat growth, complexity, and drained people, cash, and time, as StarTrax saw over three years.
• Exploring a side idea without protecting the core business. The tell: your integrator is uncomfortable with your reduced time, or the company's vision is slipping.
• Declaring the frustration gone without measuring it. The tell: you can't name the control, happiness, and stress scores or what changed in how you spend your time.

• ▸Frustrations present today: check each of the five (control, people, profit, ceiling, nothing's working) and add one line of evidence per check.
• ▸Baseline scores: rate control, happiness, and stress 1-10 today.
• ▸Concrete markers: list one observable fact per score, such as days away, health, or hours you control.
• ▸Internal challenge chosen: name one project that perpetuates the existing vision, such as a culture project, product relevance test, or on-focus experiment.
• ▸Listening plan: list the top clients to interview and the employees to take to lunch, with the same what's-working and what's-not questions.
• ▸Shiny idea (if any): describe it in one sentence and state whether it fits the core focus.
• ▸Gate check: confirm that leadership is supportive and the integrator is comfortable with your reduced time. Name the resources (people, cash, time) the idea would draw on.
• ▸Decision: choose test inside the company, separate company with its own resources, or park it. Give the reason.
• ▸Re-score date and results: set the date, then record the new control, happiness, and stress scores and what changed.

1. 1Separate the two kinds of numbers before you build anything. A P&L is a trailing indicator: its data arrives after the fact and you can't change the past. Performance you can steer comes from activity-based numbers reviewed on a regular cadence. Write both lists and see which one is empty.
2. 2Run the desert-island exercise with your leadership team for one hour. Nobody can talk to anyone, check e-mail, or use a phone. You have one sheet of paper with a handful of numbers, and those numbers must give you an absolute pulse on the business.
3. 3List every category you would need weekly to have that pulse. The source's examples are weekly revenue, cash balances, weekly sales activity, customer satisfaction/problems, accounts receivable and payable, and client project or production status.
4. 4Cut the list to a handful that tells you at a glance how the business is doing. Don't borrow a count. The source ran his first company on 14 numbers, and the right count depends on your business. With over 400 EOS clients there are over 400 different Scorecards.
5. 5Give every number to one person, so that everyone in the organization has a meaningful, manageable measurable. A number with no owner gives no direction and no accountability.
6. 6Review the numbers weekly, not quarterly or annually. The goal is to see patterns and trends early and react, as NYPD precinct commanders did with CompStat. Prevention needs data that arrives before the pattern changes.
7. 7Hold the P&L alongside the Scorecard as the lagging confirmation of profit. Judge profit and growth by whether the weekly numbers move first and the P&L follows.
8. 8Test the people side when numbers slip. Run the person through the People Analyzer to see whether it's a right-person issue. If the person is above the bar, look at the seat. The source shows growth depends on the right people in the right seats.

The source's clearest case is CompStat. When Giuliani became mayor of New York City, the NYPD tracked arrests and 911 response times. Those are trailing indicators, and by the time quarterly or annual figures arrived, the pattern of crime had changed. CompStat had precinct commanders report specific crime numbers daily or weekly, so they could see patterns and trends and deploy officers where needed. Over eight years, murder figures fell almost 70 percent and overall crime about 65 percent, and in 1996 it won the Innovations in Government Award from Harvard's Kennedy School. Giuliani then extended the idea with CapStat, a citywide Scorecard evaluating 20 city agencies. The business translation: swap the lagging number for a weekly activity number, give each leader a figure, and review it on a fixed rhythm. Results the source's clients report from the same disciplines include Image One averaging over 20% growth per year and Curt Whipple's firm going from 10 to 12 employees while revenue rose almost 100 percent in two years.

• If your only performance report is the P&L, then add weekly activity numbers, because the P&L shows the score after you can no longer change it.
• If a number reaches you quarterly or annually, then replace it or add a daily or weekly counterpart. The pattern will already have changed by the time you see it.
• If a leader or manager has no number, then assign one. Everyone in the organization should own a meaningful, manageable measurable.
• If a Scorecard line misses repeatedly, then run the owner through the People Analyzer first. If the person is above the bar, examine the seat. If below, apply the three-strike rule: 30 days, another 30 days, then exit.
• If growth has stalled (the ceiling) and you feel overwhelmed, then stop adding new initiatives. Staff numbed by quick fixes won't respond. Rebuild around clear numbers, roles, and accountability.

• Running the business off the P&L. The tell: you learn about problems after the quarter closes and can only explain them, not correct them.
• Tracking lagging activity, as the NYPD did with arrests and response times. The tell: your numbers describe what happened, and nobody can say what to do differently this week.
• Copying another company's Scorecard. The tell: the numbers don't predict your own results, because every Scorecard is unique to its organization.
• Building a long list instead of a handful. The tell: the sheet can't be read at a glance, and no one can say which number matters most.
• Chasing growth without the right people and seats. The tell: Curt Whipple's pre-implementation state, where more growth only meant more stress and the business owned the owner.

• ▸Category: name one item from your desert-island list (weekly revenue, cash balance, sales activity, customer satisfaction/problems, A/R and A/P, project or production status).
• ▸Weekly number: state the exact figure that will be reported, not a description.
• ▸Owner: one named person accountable for this number.
• ▸Goal: the weekly target that signals you are on track toward your annual growth and profit goals.
• ▸Actual this week: record the real figure, reported on the same day each week.
• ▸Indicator type: mark leading (activity, before results) or trailing (after the fact, like the P&L).
• ▸Trend (last several weeks): note direction so you can see patterns, as CompStat did.
• ▸Off-track response: write the single action or conversation triggered when the number misses.
• ▸Right person / right seat check: if the owner misses repeatedly, record the People Analyzer result and whether the issue is person or seat.

1. 1Block one or two full days off-site for the leadership team. The source recommends answering all eight vision questions in a single session, not in scraps between meetings. Name a facilitator and keep the issues list parked until the session ends.
2. 2Start with core values. Aim for three to seven, since 'less is more'. Define them as vital, timeless guiding principles that describe who you are as people. Do not write aspirational values.
3. 3Ground each value in a real story. For each candidate value, name a specific moment when someone in the company acted that way. If you can't point to a person and an event, the value is probably aspirational.
4. 4Write the core value speech. Tell the stories, name the virtue each one proves, and close with where the company is going. Wolff Group's speech used a late-night flyer to prove 'Teamwork' and a supplier credit issue to prove 'Dedicated and don't mind Hard Work'.
5. 5Define your core focus next. Write down what you are best at and why you are in business, so the shiny-object test has something to be measured against.
6. 6Complete the remaining questions in the same session, including the list of issues. Capture the answers in writing on the Vision/Traction Organizer, not in people's heads.
7. 7Deliver the speech to everyone and build it into hiring. Candidates hear it in interviews. You evaluate core values before skill, then hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize against them.
8. 8Keep the vision visible through repetition. Make the values common language, as one client did by naming conference rooms after core values. Share quarterly Rocks company-wide, and use the weekly meeting's conclude step to decide what messages need to go out to the team.

Wolff Group's Stu Wolff wrote a core value speech built from stories. In one, Sean gets an urgent Thursday call for a Friday-morning sales meeting, and Debbie turns out a custom flyer by 1:00 a.m. Stu used it to prove the value 'Teamwork'. In another, a supplier's credit hold meant Debbie had to clear a deduction so the order shipped on time, which proved 'Dedicated and don't mind Hard Work'. He told the speech to the whole company, tied it to hiring, and named them virtues 'we can't teach in a class'. Five years later the clarity had forced a decision: he and his partner parted ways over a lack of core value fit, and he found a new partner with matching values. From there he acquired three companies that doubled the business, then completed another acquisition of an equal-sized company. Wolff Group is now a $16-million company. The same pattern appears at Image One. Rob Dube wanted to solve issues first, agreed to a one-hour trial of the core values work, and now tells the story to every new team member.

• If your core value list runs past seven, cut it. The source's rule is that less is more, and a long list can't be remembered or used to hire and fire.
• If you can't name a real person and event that proves a value, drop or rewrite it. Stories are what make the value specific enough for others to recognize.
• If someone argues the issues list should come first, hold the line on core values for at least an hour. Rob Dube's resistance reversed once the work started.
• If a candidate has the skills but not the values, don't hire. Evaluate core values before skill, because it's easy to find the skill set but harder to find someone who 'rows in your direction'.
• If a shiny opportunity sits outside your core focus, test it against the focus before spending time or money. Broder & Sachse lost a million dollars' worth of time and capital, plus a year and a half of focus, on a deal off their core.

• The vision lives only in the owner's head. The tell is that employees don't listen, understand you, or follow through, and you are 'not all on the same page'.
• Core values are never defined, so nobody knows who believes in them. The tell is people whose actions hurt your cause more than help it, and no basis for hiring or firing on fit.
• The vision is written once and never reinforced. The tell is that it doesn't appear in interviews, reviews, rewards, or everyday language. The source says values 'start to come to life' only once they become common language.
• Owners chase shiny things when bored or overambitious. The tell is time and money going to ventures outside the core focus, as with the powder-coating business, which lost $300,000 in three months.
• The follow-through fizzles after a strong start. The tell is that quarterly items stop being shared with everyone and the process feels like another flavor-of-the-month idea.

• ▸Session date and location: record the off-site date, and confirm it covers one or two full days.
• ▸Core values (3–7): list each value in a few words, no more than seven.
• ▸Proof story per value: name the person and event that shows each value in action.
• ▸Core focus statement: one line on what the company is best at and why it is in business.
• ▸Shiny-object test: list any current opportunities outside the core focus and the decision on each.
• ▸Core value speech status: written / delivered to all / date delivered.
• ▸Hiring integration: where candidates hear the speech and how values are scored before skill.
• ▸Reinforcement mechanisms: list the ways values stay visible, such as shared language, room names, or recognition.
• ▸Sharing check: who has seen the written vision and the quarterly Rocks, and what message goes out at the next meeting's conclude step.

1. 1Start with structure, not people. Wickman's order is to step back, ask hard questions about how the business is organized, and build the Accountability Chart so every role and responsibility is clearly defined. You can only judge whether someone is in the right seat once the seat exists on paper.
2. 2Write down each seat's role and responsibilities in plain terms. Zoup! and CFI both credit this step: Ersher cites clarified roles for the team and franchisees, and Verdun cites 'clarity of responsibilities.' If two people claim the same responsibility, or nobody owns it, fix the chart before you evaluate anyone.
3. 3Define your core values, then list every person in the organization. The People Analyzer determines who shares your core values, so the values must be explicit enough to measure each person against. Drop labels like 'A player,' 'platinum,' 'superstar,' or '100 percenter.' The book replaces them with the right-people/right-seats test.
4. 4Run each person through the People Analyzer on core values first. This answers the right-people question and is separate from performance in the seat. Be 'truly honest with yourself': the text warns that some people are probably hurting your cause more than helping.
5. 5For each person, in each seat, apply GWC, the three absolutes for a good hire. Do they get it, do they want it, and do they have the capacity to do it? Answer each one separately and leave no gray area. Incorporating GWC into the People Analyzer is what tells you who is the right person and who is in the right seat.
6. 6Sort everyone into outcomes. Right person and right seat: keep and recognize. Right person who fails one or more GWC elements: a seat problem. A person who doesn't share the core values: a people problem. Make the change decision quickly, since the book says EOS leads to quicker decisions to change people.
7. 7Use the same two filters for hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize. The People Analyzer is meant to simplify all five. A candidate is checked against core values and GWC for the defined seat. A review uses the same lens. Chapter 4 of the book has the full scoring mechanics, so use those rather than improvising your own scale.
8. 8Re-check on a 90-day rhythm. Take the Organizational Checkup routinely and aim for progress each quarter. Most organizations score below 50 percent and over 80 percent makes a 'well-oiled machine.' Do not expect to jump from 20 to 80 overnight.

Zoup! Fresh Soup Company is the clearest case in the passages. Founder Eric Ersher reports the company grew from five locations to just under 50 open and awarded. He says the tools helped create 'a strong, healthy, and skilled leadership team with clarity around the company's vision and each member's contribution to that vision.' He also says the tools clarified roles 'for the team and also for franchisees.' Read through the construct, the sequence is that the structure and roles were made explicit, each leader's contribution was defined, and the roles were extended outward to franchisees. This is a testimonial, so it supports the sequence rather than proving the growth came from it. Rob Tamblyn of The Benefits Company states the end state: 'We now have all the right people in the right seats doing the right jobs.' To replicate the move, chart the seats first, define each contribution, then test each occupant on values and GWC.

• If someone does not share your core values, treat them as the wrong person, whatever the seat or the output. The People Analyzer answers values; moving the seat does not fix it.
• If someone shares your values but fails 'get it,' 'want it,' or 'capacity' in their current seat, treat it as a seat problem. Decide whether a different, clearly defined seat fits, or make the change.
• If you cannot state what a seat is accountable for, fix the Accountability Chart before judging the person in it.
• If you catch yourself describing people as 'A players' or 'superstars,' stop and restate the judgment as values fit plus GWC for a named seat.
• If your Organizational Checkup score is not rising over 90 days, look first at whether roles are clearly defined and whether the people decisions you identified were actually made.

• Judging people before defining seats. The tell: reviews turn into arguments about what the person was 'supposed' to own.
• Using vague talent language instead of values and GWC. The tell: you cannot say in one sentence why someone is a right or wrong person.
• Letting GWC go fuzzy. The tell: you answer 'sort of' on get it, want it, or capacity, which is the gray area the tool exists to remove.
• Avoiding the hard conclusion about someone who is hurting more than helping. The tell: the same person's name keeps surfacing as a frustration while no change is made.
• Treating the exercise as one-time. The tell: no routine checkup, no 90-day progress, and new hires or reorganizations that skip the values and GWC test.

• ▸Seat name: the role as it appears on your Accountability Chart.
• ▸Seat responsibilities: the clearly defined responsibilities this seat owns.
• ▸Person in the seat: the name of the current occupant, or the candidate.
• ▸Core values fit (People Analyzer): does this person share each of your core values? Note the evidence for each.
• ▸Gets it: do they understand the role? Yes or no, with one line of evidence.
• ▸Wants it: do they want the role? Yes or no, with one line of evidence.
• ▸Capacity to do it: do they have the capacity to do it? Yes or no, with one line of evidence.
• ▸Verdict: right person/right seat, right person/wrong seat, or wrong person.
• ▸Action and date: the decision (keep and recognize, reseat, change) and when you will revisit it, within 90 days.

1. 1Replace the P&L as your early-warning source. A profit and loss statement is a trailing indicator: its data arrives after the fact and you cannot change the past. Decide that the weekly Scorecard, not the financial statement, tells you how the business is doing now.
2. 2Build one weekly report of 5 to 15 high-level numbers for the whole organization. Fewer than five leaves blind spots, and more than fifteen stops being a handful you can read at a glance. Call it a dashboard, flash report, or key performance indicators if you like. The test is that it tells you at a glance how the business is doing.
3. 3Choose activity-based numbers, meaning counts of what people do this week, not results that show up after the fact. These numbers show which activities are on track or off track while there is still time to correct them.
4. 4Set the review rhythm at weekly. The numbers are only a pulse if they are reviewed regularly, so problems get spotted and solved as they arise rather than discovered in a financial statement long after the fact.
5. 5Give every person at least one number, a meaningful and manageable measurable they are accountable for keeping on track each week. Check each one against two questions. Does the person see a clear link between the number and their job? Can they realistically influence it?
6. 6Keep the numbers factual so discussion starts from hard data, not opinions, assumptions, emotions, or egos. When someone says 'things feel slow,' go to the number.
7. 7Track the same numbers for a while, then read them for patterns and trends. This history is what lets you predict future developments and quickly see when things have fallen off track.
8. 8Anchor the Scorecard to your three-year picture. Identify the one or two specific figures that signal the size of your organization (clients, large clients, units, widgets, gallons). Use them to confirm leadership agrees on scope and growth, then work backward to the weekly activities that drive them.

Atlas Oil Company supplies fuel to gas stations, and its size measurable is gallons. Last year it moved 725 million gallons. Its three-year picture says over a billion. That one number gives the leadership team scope and size and forces the question of what it takes to almost double the organization in three years. It also confirms that leadership agrees on and is ready for that growth. The same logic applies to the wider picture. One new client's leaders gave three-year revenue answers ranging from $20 million to $100 million, and they only got aligned at $30 million. Wolff Group, a $4 million company with 51 employees, started with a $10 to $25 million range between its two co-owners and settled on $15 million. For the Scorecard, you take the same discipline of one agreed number and push it down to the weekly level. Gallons is the end measure. The weekly Scorecard needs the activity numbers feeding it, and each person owns one of them. Pure arithmetic: 725 million gallons across 52 weeks is roughly 13.9 million a week, so a weekly review shows whether you are pacing toward the goal rather than learning the answer after the year closes.

• If a number only reaches you through the P&L or other after-the-fact reports, then find the activity upstream that produces it and put that on the Scorecard.
• If your Scorecard has more than 15 numbers, then cut it, because the tool only works as a handful you can read at a glance. If it has fewer than five, check what you are not seeing.
• If anyone in the organization has no weekly number, then assign one. Every person needs at least one meaningful, manageable measurable.
• If a person cannot say how their number connects to their job, or cannot influence it, then replace it. It must be meaningful and manageable.
• If a discussion turns on opinion, emotion, or assumption, then bring it back to the number on the Scorecard. Only factual information supports productive decisions.
• If leaders give different answers on future size, then settle on one figure for the measurable before you build weekly numbers beneath it.

• Relying on the P&L as your scorecard. The tell: you learn about problems from monthly financials, after the fact, and the conversation is about explaining the past.
• A bloated Scorecard. The tell: the report runs well past 15 numbers, nobody can summarize it at a glance, and you still ask a half dozen people for the real story.
• Reviewing the numbers irregularly or abandoning the weekly rhythm. The tell: you cannot see patterns or trends, and bad news still surprises you.
• Numbers with no owner, or with a vague owner. The tell: when a number is off track, nobody is accountable for keeping it on track, and some people have no number at all.
• Measuring results people cannot influence, or numbers that are not meaningful to the role. The tell: the owner shrugs at the number instead of acting on it.
• Managing by assumptions and egos while the Scorecard sits unused. The tell: meetings are filled with opinions about how things are going rather than hard data.

• ▸Company-level numbers (5-15): list each high-level weekly number the leadership team will review.
• ▸Activity check: for each number, mark whether it is an activity-based number (what people do) or an after-the-fact result, and replace the latter where you can.
• ▸Number owner: name the person accountable for keeping each number on track each week.
• ▸Everyone's measurable: list every person in the organization with at least one meaningful, manageable weekly number.
• ▸Meaningful and manageable test: for each person, write one line on how the number connects to their job and how they influence it.
• ▸Weekly review slot: set the recurring day and time the Scorecard is reviewed, and who attends.
• ▸On-track/off-track status: record this week's reading against the target, and flag any number that has fallen off track.
• ▸Pattern notes: after several weeks, write down the trends you see and what they predict.
• ▸Size measurable and three-year picture: name the one or two figures that show the size of the organization, today's value, and the agreed three-year figure.

1. 1Open the list before you solve anything. Create one Issues List and let anyone on the leadership team add to it. The source's logic is that transparency "smokes out" issues, so the list has to be a place where nothing hides. Do the same at every level of the organization, not only at the top.
2. 2Write each issue as the obstacle it puts in front of your vision. Issues are "the obstacles that must be faced to execute your vision." If an entry can't be tied to something you are trying to execute, it is a complaint or a preference. Rewrite it or drop it.
3. 3Compartmentalize and prioritize the list. The Issues Component exists to let you separate and rank issues. Rank by how much each one blocks execution of the vision, and take the top ones first so minor items don't use up the time.
4. 4Identify: for the issue you are working, separate the symptom from the real issue. EOS aims at "eliminating all of your symptomatic issues by solving the real ones." Keep asking what is underneath until the statement names a cause you could remove. Remember that only a handful of kinds of issues exist and they recur, so check whether this one is a known type.
5. 5Discuss: have everyone with a stake say what they actually think, in a healthy environment. The text's standard is "discuss them honestly." Honest means people can name uncomfortable causes, including people, strategy, systems, and processes. Healthy means the discussion stays on the issue and is not a contest between personalities.
6. 6Solve: end the discussion with a decision that eradicates the cause, not one that works around it. Make the decision, name who carries it out, and cross the issue off only when the cause is addressed. The chapter title is "Decide!" A discussion that ends without a decision has not solved anything.
7. 7Spend the time now. The source claims that taking the time to address a problem saves two to 10 times that amount of time later. Use this to justify protecting solving time against day-to-day bustle.
8. 8Feed the list from your data. Review the Scorecard weekly, since five to 15 numbers show when things have "fallen off the track." Put any off-track number on the Issues List right away so you aren't reacting to bad numbers in a financial statement long after the fact.

The passages give no single worked issue, so this is an illustration built from their logic. A leadership team sees one weekly Scorecard number fall off track. In the past this was handled by a quick fix, the kind the source describes in its "nothing's working" frustration, where staff go numb to new initiatives. This time the number goes onto the Issues List. Identify: the team asks what is underneath and finds the stated issue ("the number is low") is a symptom, so it rewrites the issue around a cause such as a role, a process step, or a person in the wrong seat. Discuss: each person says what they see, honestly, and the cause is named even though it is uncomfortable. Solve: the team decides on a change to the people, strategy, systems, or processes involved, assigns one owner, and removes the item only once the cause is addressed. The next week's Scorecard shows whether it held. The payoff is the source's claim of two to 10 times the time saved against the recurring workaround.

• If an item on the list is a symptom (a bad number, a frustration), then restate it as the underlying cause before discussing it. Otherwise you will solve the wrong thing and see it return.
• If an issue has lingered for a long time, then treat it as an opportunity, not a lost cause. The source says "regardless of how long you've been plagued by your problems," it can be solved.
• If the discussion circles or turns personal, then pull it back to the obstacle and require honesty in a healthy environment. Do not drop the issue to keep the peace.
• If you are tempted to patch an issue and move on, then ask whether the cause is eradicated. If not, keep it on the list. A workaround leaves it in place.
• If the day is too busy to solve issues, then count the cost. Solving takes a fraction of the two to 10 times the time you will spend on it later.

• Keeping issues private or unwritten. The tell is the same problem raised in hallway conversations and never on the list, with leaders surprised it is still there months later.
• Solving symptoms. The tell is that the issue keeps coming back in a new form, and the staff have become numb to new initiatives.
• Discussion without decision. The tell is that an item is talked through at length and nobody leaves owning an outcome. Compare the chapter's call to "Decide!"
• Using workarounds as a permanent plan. The tell is that people say 'we just handle it that way' and the cause never appears on the list.
• Not protecting time for it because of day-to-day operations. The tell is that the list grows, the same items stay near the top, and leaders say they are too busy to deal with them.

• ▸Issue as first stated: write it in the words it was raised, including the symptom.
• ▸Obstacle to which part of the vision: name what this blocks you from executing.
• ▸Priority rank: place it on the list relative to other open issues.
• ▸Real issue (Identify): restate the underlying cause that sits beneath the symptom.
• ▸Known type?: note whether this is one of the recurring kinds of issues.
• ▸Honest input (Discuss): record each person's view, including uncomfortable ones.
• ▸Decision (Solve): state the decision that eradicates the cause, not a workaround.
• ▸Owner and completion date: one named person and the date the decision will be done.
• ▸Proof it worked: name the Scorecard number or observable result that shows it is resolved.

1. 1Gather the leadership team and agree on the handful of core processes that make up your Way of doing business. The passages' examples are a human resource process, a marketing process, a sales process, an operating process, a customer-retention process and an accounting process. Give each one a name. Agreement comes first, because the rest of the work depends on everyone seeing the same list.
2. 2Check readiness before you start. The Three-Step Process Documenter is the sixth main tool. It normally follows full implementation of the foundational tools, once everyone is clear and has bought in. You may start early only if you are on track with the earlier tools and your leadership team has the capacity.
3. 3Document each process at 20/80, meaning the 20 percent of steps that produce 80 percent of the result. Write the high-level steps, with a few bullets under each. In the passages' human resource example, Step 5 (Quarterly Reviews) has bullets such as 'Follow the review checklist' and 'File review with HR department'.
4. 4Aim for two to 10 pages per core process. Operations processes usually run longest. The 20/80 limit is not absolute: include whatever you feel is necessary, but keep it simple.
5. 5Challenge every step as you write it. Documenting exposes hidden bones, which are steps that exist for no reason anyone can explain. When you ask why and hear 'we've always done it that way,' treat that as a prompt to question the step. The passages' ham-carving story makes the same point: the family cut the back off the ham 'because it's tradition.'
6. 6Simplify, apply technology to, and fine-tune each process after it is documented. The stated payoff is efficiency, fewer mistakes, easier management and higher profitability.
7. 7Train everyone on the documented processes. The Three-Step Process Documenter is typically a six- to 12-month effort that includes documentation and fully training everyone. A process counts only when it is followed by all.
8. 8If you have multiple locations, plan the extra time up front. Visit in person, hold conference calls or run webinars until the processes are fully implemented at each site. Accept the added complexity as a reality of your business model.

The passages show the human resource process as seven named steps. Step 1 is the search: define the role, job description and salary (the seat), decide the search medium, begin the search, and e-mail 20 sphere/peers. Step 2 is interviewing: screen résumés, run the initial interview with profiling tools, hold a second interview, check references, and give a CEO interview with the core values speech. Step 3 is hiring: an eight-hour on-the-job trial, a decision, and a 90-day trial. Step 4 is orientation: HR policy and employee manual, benefits review and forms, position training, and CEO orientation (company story and culture). Step 5 is quarterly reviews. The manager fills out the People Analyzer beforehand, follows the review checklist, reviews the People Analyzer, documents the review, has all parties sign it, and files it with HR. Step 6 is termination, under a three-strike rule with documentation. It covers contacting legal counsel, meeting with HR present, an exit interview, and a signed document. Step 7 is ongoing benefits management: 401K, bonus plan, health insurance and employee files. Each step has only a few bullets, so the whole process stays within the two-to-10-page range. Anyone can follow it without a long manual.

• If a step can only be defended with 'we've always done it that way,' then question it and cut it unless someone can state its purpose.
• If a process draft runs past 10 pages, then trim back to the 20/80 level. If a step is truly necessary, keep it, but keep the document simple.
• If the foundational tools are not in place and your leadership team lacks capacity, then hold off on the Process Documenter. If you are on track and have capacity, then start early.
• If the company has multiple locations, then schedule visits, calls or webinars at each one until implementation is complete, rather than assuming the documents will spread on their own.
• If the leadership team cannot agree on what the core processes are or what to call them, then settle that before writing any process document.

• Over-documenting: writing exhaustive procedures instead of a 20/80 outline. The tell is that a single process runs well past 10 pages and nobody reads it.
• Documenting what exists without questioning it. The tell is that legacy steps survive and nobody can explain why they are there.
• Writing the processes but not training everyone on them. The tell is that people give different answers about how things are done, so the processes are not followed by all.
• Starting the Process Documenter before the foundations or leadership capacity exist. The tell is that early tools stall because the team is stretched across too many implementations.
• Neglecting remote locations. The tell is that one site follows the Way while another improvises, and no one has spent time there teaching the processes.

• ▸Core process name: the name the leadership team agreed on (e.g., human resource, marketing, sales, operating, customer-retention, accounting).
• ▸Leadership team agreement: record that the team agreed this is a core process in your Way of doing business.
• ▸High-level steps (20/80): list the major steps in order, such as Step 1 to Step 7.
• ▸Key bullets per step: two to five bullets under each step, only what matters most.
• ▸'Why do we do this?' check: next to each step, write its purpose. Flag any step answered with 'we've always done it that way.'
• ▸Steps to remove or simplify: record the hidden bones you found and what you will cut or streamline.
• ▸Technology to apply: note where technology can speed up or tighten a step.
• ▸Page count (target 2–10): record the length and trim if the document is bloated.
• ▸Training and locations: list who must be trained, how (in person, call, webinar) and the completion date for each location.