traction-eos

# Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)

A complete system for running a business with six key components. Designed for entrepreneurial companies ($2M-$50M revenue, 10-250 employees) that want to align vision and execution.

## Core Principle

**Most businesses suffer from the same core issues: people, vision, traction.** Great vision without traction is hallucination; traction without vision is aimless. EOS connects the two through a practical weekly operating rhythm that strengthens the Six Key Components of any organization.

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Rate any business 0-10 on EOS component strength: a 10/10 means all six components are strong, meetings are productive, and quarterly rocks are consistently achieved. Always state the current score and the improvements needed to reach 10/10.

## The Six Key Components

```
Vision → People → Data → Issues → Process → Traction
```

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)** — 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 the 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 | Most important things in 90 days |
| **Issues List** | All unresolved obstacles | Problems, ideas, opportunities |

**Process:** Leadership completes the V/TO together (2-day off-site), shares it with the entire organization, reviews quarterly, updates annually.

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

See: [references/vto.md](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; it defines the structure and who owns what.

```
Visionary ←→ Integrator
              ├── Sales/Marketing
              ├── Operations
              └── Finance
```

- **Visionary:** Big ideas, culture, key relationships, creative problem solving
- **Integrator:** Runs the business day-to-day, manages the team, executes the vision
- **Rule:** One person per seat — shared accountability is no accountability

**Tool: People Analyzer** — evaluate every person on two dimensions:

1. **Right Person (core values fit):** Rate +, +/-, or - on each core value. Must be "+" on all; one "+/-" is a conversation; any "-" means wrong person.
2. **Right Seat (GWC):** **G**ets it (understands the role), **W**ants it (genuinely), **C**apacity (mental, physical, emotional). Must be "yes" on all three.

**People decisions:**
- Right person, right seat → keep and invest in
- Right person, wrong seat → move to the right seat
- Wrong person, right seat → coach or exit (hardest call)
- Wrong person, wrong seat → exit immediately

See: [references/people.md](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. Weekly data spots problems 2-4 weeks earlier than monthly and replaces gut-feel management with accountability.

**Scorecard rules:**
- Activity-based metrics (leading indicators), not results (lagging)
- Weekly numbers — monthly is too slow to react
- Every number has an owner and a goal
- Red/green: on track or off track

**Example:**

| Metric | Owner | Goal | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 |
|--------|-------|------|----|----|----|----|
| Revenue | Sales Lead | $50K/wk | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| New Leads | Marketing | 100/wk | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cash Balance | Finance | >$200K | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |

**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](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)** — **I**dentify → **D**iscuss → **S**olve:

1. **Identify:** Ask "Why?" until you reach the root cause (not the symptom); state the issue in one sentence
2. **Discuss:** Everyone gets input (not equal time); stop tangents; one issue at a time, time-boxed 5-15 minutes
3. **Solve:** Make the decision, assign action items (who + what + when), move on

**Three types of issues:**

| Type | Examples | Action |
|------|----------|--------|
| **Problems** | Customer churn, team conflict, outage | IDS → solve |
| **Ideas** | New feature, process change, opportunity | IDS → decide (yes/no/later) |
| **Obstacles** | Blocked rock, resource constraint | IDS → remove or escalate |

**Issues list rules:** Anyone can add issues; prioritize most important first; unsolved issues carry forward — not everything gets solved each meeting.

**Common IDS failures:** discussing symptoms instead of root cause, rehashing the same issue weekly, ending without clear action items.

See: [references/issues.md](references/issues.md) for IDS facilitation guides.

### 5. Process Component

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

**Tool: Core Process Documentation** —