Are You Struggling to Scale Your Organization ? Need agility but dubious of process BS/dogma? I share reflective, pragmatic, principled takes on how to approach scaling your organization leveraging the essence (rather than theater) of product operating models, agile practices and frameworks, and business operating systems such as EOS and OKRs.
Traction?
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A CEO asked me yesterday why I'm using the term Organizational Traction. I got the inspiration from Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (Gino Wickman's book introducing EOS - here's my take on it from a while ago). Here's how I explained it in the conversation yesterday: Imagine you established a strategic vision. You know where you're going. But it seems like there's no progress towards this vision. It's like full gas in neutral. Trying to get a grip in the mud. Or losing grip in a tight corner. Or your tires are worn out. Or its time to change to winter tires. Company operating systems like EOS, OKRs, Scaling Up, and Scrum are designed to improve traction. It's not about activity. It's not even about outputs. It's about outcomes and evidence of moving in the right direction at a good speed. I started using traction instead of progress in my work with product organizations and company leadership teams. I find it is a better fit when trying to evolve from projects to products, from activity and output to outcomes. If you want to dive deeper, I discuss a few of these company operating systems and explore accelerating without losing traction in the Mastering Organizational Traction email course. (here's a one-click subscribe to the course - no need to reenter your email) Are you using EOS? Scaling Up? OKRs? Are they helping you maintain/improve traction? I'd love to hear about your experience. Yours, |
Scaling w/ Agility
Are You Struggling to Scale Your Organization ? Need agility but dubious of process BS/dogma? I share reflective, pragmatic, principled takes on how to approach scaling your organization leveraging the essence (rather than theater) of product operating models, agile practices and frameworks, and business operating systems such as EOS and OKRs.
Ever feel like your product organization is stuck in the mud? You’re not alone. Many teams start strong, laser-focused on delivering value and achieving product-market fit. But as success scales, things get messy. Dependencies pile up, alignment fades, and suddenly, you’re running a feature factory instead of an empowered product organization. Why Do Product Organizations Stall? Here’s the typical lifecycle: Early Days: One team, minimal dependencies, clear goals. It’s all about finding...
Leading an agility journey can often feel lonely. These days, especially, there’s plenty of complexity, and rapid change—what we’ve come to know as VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) or even the newer BANI framework (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible). Building and growing a consulting/advisory business in the agility/product/scaling field also provides plenty of VUCA and BANI. Peer groups, like Masterminds or the Forums used in the Entrepreneur Org (EO) / Young...
I often discuss developing your company/operating model using product techniques. Today's post is a collaboration with my fantastic wife, Vered, where she outlines a somewhat concrete playbook for doing just that—developing your product playbook like it was a product—collaboratively, iteratively, focusing on outcomes, steering with evidence. It's the essence of Product Operations. Enjoy! This article is inspired by recent conversations I had with Product Leaders about product operating...