by Jerry Kauffman, EOS Partner
It is surprising to me how many business leaders I ask “Where do you want to be in 5-10 years?” and they do not have a clear idea. Some think that’s too far out. Some are just trying to put out daily fires and get by. Some are overwhelmed by the magnitude of answering the question.
In the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up someplace else.” Answering this question with clarity is a part of the Proven Process™ of The Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®). It’s done in a thoughtful and structured way that has great power for the team. Here’s how it works.
Establish Your Long-term Target
The first step is establishing the 10-Year Target™. This is the distant goal on the horizon. It may in fact be less than 10 Years, but must be at least five years out. A shorter horizon just doesn’t take your brain to the right place.
The 10 Year Target™ serves to align and inspire all members of the organization. Think of the metaphor of a mountain peak on the horizon: you can see it from anywhere and you’re inspired to think about the view you’ll see from the top. You just don’t yet know how to get there or all the steps that will be required. You’ll have to find the trailhead and a map, perhaps a campsite along the way, determine the equipment you need, pack food and water, etc. Lots of details that have to be worked out, but you’re inspired to climb to the top and are confident that with hard work, dedication, and persistence, you’ll get there and enjoy the vistas that are now just a dream.
Layout the Short-term Goal
When the goal on the horizon is clear to all, we lay out the 3-Year Picture™. The word picture is used very deliberately here. The 3-Year Picture™ is about what you see in the future. If you could travel forward in time three years, what would you see? Not see? Hear? Feel? Experience?
It is common for each member of a Leadership Team to have different pictures of the future. Going through the exercise of articulating what you see three years out, and EVERYONE having the same picture, is powerful. Uncovering differences and having deep conversations around the future helps a team take a big leap forward in terms of clarity, focus, and alignment.
There are two powerful effects of doing great work in creating the 3-Year Picture™. The first is that when all members of the Leadership Team have the same picture in their minds, it is much more likely to become reality than if there are multiple, disparate visions. Second, 100% alignment on the 3-Year Picture™ makes is much easier to take the next step to taking the grand vision one step closer to the ground by creating the 1-Year Plan. Simple? Usually. Powerful? Always!
The Priority Plan
The 1-Year Plan dives into the critical work of establishing priorities and the actions that will be taken to accomplish them. The 1-Year Plan starts with a few key numbers (Future date, Revenue, Profit, Measurable – key number that describes size and scope of the organization to which all employees can relate). Then the team distills to the three to seven most important things that must be accomplished this year.
It is recommended to stay closer to three than seven. Hard discussion around the MOST important priorities drives clarity, focus, and alignment. Organizations with fewer goals usually accomplish more than those with more goals because of the power of FOCUS.
After the 1-Year Plan comes Quarterly Rocks, where the rubber meets the road for real, but that’s a subject to itself. When Leadership can show, in clearly written terms, the long term goal on the horizon (10-Year Target™), what the organization will look like in 3 years (3-Year Picture™) and the most important things to get done this year (1-Year Plan), they have done one of their most important jobs – creating a clear and compelling vision for the organization that can be shared by all.
Now the vision can become the reality.
