traction-eos

$28

Every business is built on these six components. EOS strengthens all six.

1. Vision Component

Question: Does everyone in the organization know where you're going and how you plan to get there?

Tool: Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO)

The V/TO answers eight questions on two pages:

Question

What It Defines

Example

Core Values

3-7 non-negotiable beliefs

"Own it", "Do the right thing", "Grow or die"

Core Focus

Purpose/cause/passion + niche

"Simplify small business" + "Cloud accounting"

10-Year Target

Big, hairy, audacious goal

"$100M revenue" or "10,000 customers"

Marketing Strategy

Target market, 3 uniques, proven process, guarantee

Who you serve, why you're different

3-Year Picture

What company looks like in 3 years

Revenue, profit, headcount, key metrics

1-Year Plan

Revenue, profit, measurables, goals

Specific targets for this year

Quarterly Rocks

3-7 priorities for this quarter

The most important things to accomplish in 90 days

Issues List

All unresolved obstacles

Problems, ideas, opportunities to discuss

Process:

• Leadership team completes V/TO together (2-day off-site)

• Share with entire organization

• Review quarterly

• Update annually

Key insight: If leadership team can't agree on V/TO, you have a bigger problem. Alignment comes first.

See: references/vto.md for V/TO templates and exercises.

2. People Component

Question: Do you have the right people in the right seats?

Tool: Accountability Chart

Not an org chart—an accountability chart. Defines the structure and who owns what.

Structure:

Visionary ←→ Integrator

              ├── Sales/Marketing

              ├── Operations

              └── Finance

Two key roles:

• Visionary: Big ideas, culture, key relationships, creative problem solving

• Integrator: Runs business day-to-day, manages team, executes vision, resolves conflicts

Rule: One person per seat. No shared accountability.

Tool: People Analyzer

Evaluate every person on two dimensions:

1. Right Person (core values fit)

Core Value

+ (most of the time)

+/- (sometimes)

• (rarely)

Own it

+

Do the right thing

+/-

Grow or die

+

Standard: Must be "+" on all core values. One "+/-" is a conversation. Any "-" is wrong person.

2. Right Seat (GWC)

• Get it: Understands the role

• Want it: Genuinely wants the role

• Capacity: Has the mental, physical, emotional capacity

Must be "yes" on all three. If missing any one, wrong seat.

The formula: Right People + Right Seats = A-players

People decisions:

• Right person, right seat → Keep and invest in

• Right person, wrong seat → Move to right seat

• Wrong person, right seat → Coaching/exit (hardest call)

• Wrong person, wrong seat → Exit immediately

See: references/people.md for accountability chart and people analyzer templates.

3. Data Component

Question: Are you managing based on objective data, or subjective opinions?

Tool: Scorecard

A weekly report card of 5-15 numbers that tell you how the business is doing.

Scorecard rules:

• Activity-based metrics (leading indicators), not results (lagging)

• Weekly numbers (monthly is too slow)

• Every number has an owner

• Every number has a goal

• Red/green: on track or off track

Example Scorecard:

Metric

Owner

Goal

W1

W2

W3

W4

Revenue

Sales Lead

$50K/wk

✓

✓

✗

✓

New Leads

Marketing

100/wk

✓

✗

✓

✓

Demos Completed

Sales

20/wk

✗

✓

✓

✓

Customer NPS

Support

>50

✓

✓

✓

✓

Cash Balance

Finance

>$200K

✓

✓

✓

✓

Benefits:

• Spot problems 2-4 weeks earlier

• Reduce "gut feeling" management

• Create accountability without micromanagement

• Everyone knows the score

Metric selection: If you had to go on vacation for 4 weeks, what 5-15 numbers would tell you how the business is doing?

See: references/data.md for scorecard templates and metric selection.

4. Issues Component

Question: Are you identifying, discussing, and solving issues quickly?

Tool: Issues Solving Track (IDS)

Identify → Discuss → Solve

Step 1: Identify

• What's the real issue? (Not the symptom)

• Ask "Why?" until you reach root cause

• State the issue in one sentence

Step 2: Discuss

• Everyone gets input (not equal time)

• Tangents are stopped

• Focus on the ONE issue

• Time-boxed (usually 5-15 minutes)

Step 3: Solve

• Decision is made

• Action items are assigned (who + what + when)

• Move to next issue

Three types of issues:

Type

Examples

Action

Problems

Customer churn, team conflict, system outage

IDS → solve

Ideas

New feature, process change, market opportunity

IDS → decide (yes/no/later)

Obstacles

Blocking a rock, resource constraint, dependency

IDS → remove or escalate

Issues list rules:

• Everyone can add issues

• Prioritize: most important first

• Not all issues get solved every meeting

• Unsolved issues carry forward

Common IDS mistakes:

• Discussing symptoms, not root cause

• Rehashing same issue every week

• No clear action items

• Too much discussion, not enough solving

See: references/issues.md for IDS facilitation guides.

5. Process Component

Question: Have you documented and consistently followed your core processes?

Tool: Core Process Documentation

The 20/80 rule: Document 20% of your processes to get 80% consistency.

Identify core processes:

• HR process (hiring, onboarding, reviews)

• Sales process (lead → close)

• Operations process (delivery, fulfillment)

• Customer service process (support → resolution)

• Finance process (invoicing, collections)

Documentation format:

• Name the process

• List 5-20 major steps

• Add just enough detail (not a 50-page manual)

• Make it visual where possible

Example: Sales Process "The Closer"

• Qualify lead (BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)

• Discovery call (30 min, use question guide)

• Demo (customize to their pain points)

• Proposal (send within 24 hours)

• Follow up (3 touches in 7 days)

• Close or disqualify

Followed By All (FBA):

• Document it

• Train on it

• Measure compliance

• Update quarterly

See: references/process.md for process documentation templates.

6. Traction Component

Question: Are you executing on your vision every day?

Two tools: Rocks and Level 10 Meetings

#### Rocks (Quarterly Priorities)

Definition: The 3-7 most important things to accomplish in the next 90 days.

Why 90 days?

• Long enough to accomplish something meaningful

• Short enough to maintain urgency

• Natural human rhythm for focus

Rock-setting process:

• Review V/TO (vision, 3-year, 1-year)

• Brainstorm: "What must get done this quarter to stay on track?"

• Narrow to 3-7 company rocks

• Assign each rock to one owner

• Each leadership member also has 3-7 individual rocks

• Share with entire organization

• Track weekly

SMART rocks:

• Specific: "Launch new pricing page" not "improve pricing"

• Measurable: Clear completion criteria

• Achievable: Can be done in 90 days

• Realistic: Given current resources

• Time-bound: Due end of quarter

Rock scoring:

• Done = checked off (no partial credit)

• Not done = carried forward or dropped

• Goal: 80%+ completion rate

Anti-patterns:

• Too many rocks (>7) → Focus is diluted

• Rocks too vague → Can't tell if done

• No owner → Nobody accountable

• All rocks are "business as usual" → Not moving the needle

See: references/rocks.md for rock-setting exercises.

#### Level 10 Meeting (Weekly Leadership Meeting)

The most important meeting in EOS. Runs every week, same day, same time, same agenda.

Duration: 90 minutes, never longer.

Agenda:

Time

Section

Purpose

5 min

Segue

Good news (personal and professional)

5 min

Scorecard

Review weekly numbers

5 min

Rock Review

On track / Off track for each rock

5 min

Customer/Employee Headlines

Quick updates

5 min

To-Do List

Review last week's to-dos (done or not done)

60 min

IDS

Identify, Discuss, Solve issues

5 min

Conclude

Recap to-dos, rate meeting 1-10

Level 10 meeting rules:

• Starts on time, ends on time (non-negotiable)

• Same day, same time every week

• No phones/laptops (except for agenda)

• IDS gets 60 of 90 minutes (most important part)

• Rate meeting 1-10 at end (target: 8+)

• If below 8, discuss what to improve

Why "Level 10"?

• Every meeting is rated 1-10 by participants

• Goal is to consistently achieve 10/10

To-Do rules:

• 7-day action items only

• Each has owner and due date

• Done = 100% complete

• 90%+ completion rate is target

See: references/level-10.md for meeting facilitation guides.

EOS Implementation Timeline

Typical rollout: 2 years to full implementation

Phase

Timeline

Focus

Focus Day

Day 1 (8 hours)

Accountability chart, rocks, scorecard, Level 10

Vision Building Day 1

Month 1

V/TO: core values, core focus, 10-year target

Vision Building Day 2

Month 2

V/TO: marketing strategy, 3-year, 1-year, rocks

Quarterly Sessions

Every 90 days

Review rocks, set new rocks, IDS major issues

Annual Planning

Yearly

Full V/TO review, set 1-year plan, Q1 rocks

Self-implementation vs. EOS Implementer:

• Self: Read the book, follow the tools (free, slower)

• EOS Implementer: Certified facilitator guides the process (faster, expensive)

Organizational Checkup

Rate your company 1-5 on each statement:

Component

Statement

Score (1-5)

Vision

Leadership team is on the same page with where we're going and how to get there

People

We have the right people in the right seats

Data

We manage from a weekly scorecard of 5-15 numbers

Issues

We solve issues quickly and permanently

Process

Core processes are documented and followed by all

Traction

We set and achieve 90-day priorities (rocks)

Scoring:

• 25-30: Strong (maintain and fine-tune)

• 20-24: Good (close gaps)

• 15-19: Average (significant work needed)

• Below 15: Weak (consider EOS implementer)

Common Mistakes

Mistake

Why It Fails

Fix

Skipping Level 10s

Lose weekly rhythm, issues pile up

Protect meeting, never cancel

Too many rocks

No focus, nothing gets done

Max 7 company rocks, 3-7 per person

Vague rocks

Can't tell if done

Write SMART rocks with clear criteria

No scorecard

Managing by gut, surprises

Choose 5-15 weekly numbers

Wrong people kept

Drags entire team down

Use People Analyzer, make tough calls

V/TO not shared

Team doesn't know the vision

Share with entire company

Quick Diagnostic

Audit any business:

Question

If No

Action

Does leadership agree on vision?

Misalignment

Complete V/TO together

Right people in right seats?

Performance issues

People Analyzer on all seats

Managing from data weekly?

Reactive management

Build weekly scorecard

Issues solved permanently?

Same problems repeat

Implement IDS in Level 10s

Core processes documented?

Inconsistency

Document top 5 processes

90-day priorities set and tracked?

No traction

Set quarterly rocks

Reference Files

• vto.md: Vision/Traction Organizer templates, eight questions

• people.md: Accountability chart, People Analyzer, GWC

• data.md: Scorecard templates, metric selection

• issues.md: IDS process, facilitation, issue types

• process.md: Core process documentation templates

• rocks.md: Rock-setting exercises, SMART rocks

• level-10.md: Meeting agenda, facilitation, rating

• implementation.md: EOS rollout timeline, self-implementation guide

• case-studies.md: Companies that implemented EOS successfully

Further Reading

This skill is based on the Entrepreneurial Operating System developed by Gino Wickman. For the complete system:

• "Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business" by Gino Wickman

• "Get a Grip" by Gino Wickman & Mike Paton (EOS as a business fable)

• "Rocket Fuel" by Gino Wickman & Mark C. Winters (Visionary + Integrator relationship)

About the Author

Gino Wickman is the creator of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and founder of EOS Worldwide, a community of certified EOS Implementers who help companies implement the system. Wickman has worked with thousands of entrepreneurial leadership teams and has helped them get real traction. Traction has sold over 2 million copies and EOS is used by over 250,000 companies worldwide. His work focuses on the practical tools needed to run an entrepreneurial company.