I live in Aledo, TX which boasts the winningest high school football program in Texas history.
Friday Night Lights, anybody?!? “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”
The Aledo Bearcats have a district winning streak dating back to 2007 that currently stands at 125 straight wins. Most of the kids on the team weren’t born the last time Aledo lost a distinct game!
“Can’t lose” literally means “can’t lose.” Aledo is “Elite-O” and has been for a long time.
How do you build a dynasty that wins for 18 years straight?
Aledo installs one vision, one system and one language …followed-by-all beginning when kids are in middle school. The high school coaches teach the middle school coaches the system. The middle school coaches run the system purely. This means kids have years of familiarity with the vision, system and language before ever arriving to the High School program. No translation. No context switching. No confusion. Full speed, everyday win-after-win for 18 years straight.
You can run your business this way.
Or you can stick with the mostly unexamined Junk-drawer system of business which sounds like…
- “Some of our departments use KPI’s from Google”
- “One of our executives uses OKR’s from Andy Grove”
- “We sometimes do daily standing scrum meetings…but it’s been a while since we had one.”
- “I like Lencioni’s The Advantage”
- Etc, etc
A junk drawer is not a system. Scissors, thick rubber bands and old keys are tools that each serve a purpose, but throwing them into a cabinet drawer is not as a system. But this is what many companies do with various business tools. We read 13 business books over 5 years and throw various tools together, half-understood, half-executed some of the time.
Full confession? This is what I did before I discovered EOS.
An explicit system like EOS is more like an engine. Each part is connected with the others to produce efficient power and then momentum. Gino called it “Traction” because it is.
EOS is a simple, comprehensive system but you’ll likely need a coach. And not just your CEO.
EOS Implementers coach offenses, not QB’s.
Imagine a Quarterback who alone has a coach. Now imagine this same QB attempting to translate the gameplan to the Running Backs, Tight Ends, Wide Receivers, O-Line in the midst of the chaos of a game, while the competition chases him. All of this while using different terminology with no clear definition of their offensive philosophy. This backyard football philosophy of business (“Just get open and I’ll find you”) sorta works until the competition gets sophisticated or until everyone gets tired of running around.
You’ve just imagined most companies in America.
This is why the EOS Proven Process involves teaching/facilitating/coaching the full implementation of EOS with teams (not QB/CEO’s). There is incredible power in installing one system with one vision, one language and clear alignment throughout the business. The alignment starts to stack and momentum starts to build and after a while it feels like magic. It’s not. It’s just the downstream result of highly aligned human energy.
As EOS implementer we coach entire teams (leaders responsible for the major functions of the business) to…
- …Install one Offense (EOS – The Entrepreneurial Operating System)
- …Define every position on the Roster (Accountability Chart)
- …Buy-in to the overall Offensive Game Plan (Vision/Traction organizer)
- …Get better weekly by “watching the film” in a Level-10 meeting. Any good coach will remind you “The film don’t lie.”
- …Know the play we just called in the huddle (Quarterly Rocks)
- …Ultimately build a Dynasty that does nothing but win! (3-year picture, 10-year Target)
Do you want to build a dynasty or scrape around in a junk drawer looking for momentum?
The EOS Creed says…”You cannot build a great organization on multiple operating systems – you must choose one.
Most entrepreneurs/owners are starting to come to the consensus that EOS is the system.
So come run on EOS.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.