Most businesses that make it past the start-up stage eventually reach a point where they begin experiencing some levels of frustration and pain. It might be due to growing too fast, changing market conditions, lack of direction or leadership. Whatever the case may be, most growing businesses eventually come to the realization that in order to achieve success, they must make changes and improve their operations.
That was Vidionix in 2019-2020.
At the time, video was exploding. Covid (I’ve decided that I’m done capitalizing it) and lockdowns made virtual events the only type of event people attended (which meant we were busier than ever). And last but not least, we didn’t have much in the way of direction. (To be fair, a lot of businesses found themselves in this same predicament at the onset of Covid). We knew that if we were going to grow our business, we were going to need help.
“A company without a vision is like a ship without a rudder.”
Geno Wickman
Enter EOS, aka Entrepreneurial Operating System. Based off a book (Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business) written by lifelong entrepreneur, Gino Wickman, EOS is a practical system designed to help small and medium-sized businesses achieve success. EOS is designed to help businesses address these issues and create a more cohesive, efficient, and effective organization, while providing a practical framework and set of tools that can be customized to meet the specific needs of the business.
Traction is divided into 3 parts:
Part 1: Entrepreneurial Operating System
This section covers the six components of EOS:
- Vision
- People
- Data
- Issues
- Process
- Traction
Part 2: Getting Traction
This section covers the 3 components of getting traction:
- Discipline
- Accountability
- Traction
Getting traction requires discipline, focus, and a commitment to continuous improvement, particularly by the leadership team. When a business has traction, it builds momentum, creates a culture of success, and sets the stage for future growth and profitability.
Part 3: Keeping Traction
The final section emphasizes the importance of sustaining the momentum created by the EOS framework. It provides practical tips for staying focused, overcoming the inevitable obstacles, and continuously improving and adapting to constantly changing business environments.
If you’re reading this and are considering implementing EOS for your organization, there are a few things you should know. Like most business strategies, it’s not perfect. It requires patience (results do not happen overnight), everyone must be 100% onboard (especially leadership), and everyone must be willing to adapt.
All that said, here are three ways EOS significantly improved our company.
EOS helped align our organization
Like a lot of organizations that implement EOS, we were growing too fast. We never took the time to work “on” the business because we were always working “in” the business. We were constantly running in circles because we didn’t have any processes. We weren’t on the same page, nor were we focused. Our employees didn’t fully understand their roles and responsibilities.
EOS forced us to reboot and look at our business through a different lens. After some reflection, it became crystal clear that we were inadvertently making our business way more complicated than it needed to be. The EOS framework helped us identify our inefficiencies and take a more simplified approach. Over time, this made us more efficient, productive, and profitable.
EOS made us a data-driven organization
Our EOS consultant gave us the following analogy to help us understand the importance of making data driven decisions. Imagine a football game. The home team has the ball and is down 6 points with only a few seconds remaining. Surprisingly, the coach of the home team sends his field goal kicker into the game who kicks a field goal as time expires. Because a field goal is only worth 3 points, the home team lost.
That’s the equivalent of a business not using data to make important business decisions. The coach of the home team (rightfully) lost his job because he made a poor decision when the game was on the line. Had he looked at the scoreboard (data), he would’ve known that his team needed to score a touchdown if they had any chance to win the game.
Before implementing EOS, we relied on our gut instincts and our P&L to make strategic business decisions. While that strategy worked at times, we knew that wasn’t sustainable. We needed to be able to see the scoreboard.
EOS utilizes a “Scorecard” to help measure your progress toward achieving your company goals. The scorecard is a simple yet extremely powerful tool that enables us to track our performance in key areas of our operations. Scorecards typically consists of 5 to15 metrics, which are selected by the leadership team based on the specific needs and goals of the organization. Each metric is assigned a numerical target and a current “score,” and progress is tracked over time using a traffic light system (green for on track, yellow for caution, and red for off track).
Once we implemented this, it allowed us to rely on data to help us make important business decisions like when it’s time to hire, where we need to focus, etc. Another unexpected benefit? It helped us create a culture of continuous improvement and accountability because it ensures that decisions are based on objective data rather than subjective opinions.
EOS helped us put the right people are in the right seats
We’ve always had great people; that was never our problem. Whether or not they were in the right seat was always the question. Two EOS templates helped us drastically improve this. The People Analyzer helped us objectively determine whether an employee is a good fit for our organization and our values and the Accountability Chart, meanwhile, replaced our organizational chart and appends important functional information for each role, providing further clarification throughout the organization as to each person’s function and responsibilities.
In conclusion, EOS can be a powerful tool for businesses who are looking to improve their operations, and achieve their long-term goals. By implementing , businesses can gain clarity and focus, improve communication and accountability. However, it’s important to carefully consider your specific needs and goals, and whether the EOS approach aligns with their organizational culture and values. By conducting a thorough evaluation of the benefits and potential drawbacks of the EOS system, businesses can make an informed decision about whether to adopt this methodology and implement it successfully to achieve their desired outcomes.
