10% MORE STRUCTURE = 25% MORE SUCCESS
We recently signed up with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and had our first session, ‘Focus Day.’ We spent a lot of time defining accountabilities and responsibilities, and having an experienced EOS Implementer® guide us was incredibly helpful. Rachel Downey asked tough, insightful questions; things we hadn’t even thought about that helped us get clear about who owned what.
By the way, I’d hate to facilitate any group I was in, but Rachel was great. She legitimized me as what EOS calls a ‘Visionary’ (she’s one herself), but she also made the point that I had to be reined in from time to time. Which is true.
We were delighted at the consistency between EOS values and language and our own, even though we operate in very different levels. EOS operates with owners and Executive teams, we primarily operate with Operational managers. We even had the same phrases.
I’ve always believed that for most small to medium businesses, even a small increase in structure, like 10%, can lead to disproportionately better results.
By structure I mean clarity about the shape of something: a meeting, a strategy, an organisation chart, business processes and so on.
Here’s how 10% gets you so much more:
Having a structured plan doesn’t add complexity. It makes things clearer and easier to manage. Without it, teams often waste time and energy because they don’t know exactly what they’re supposed to do, or how their work fits into the bigger picture. Structure fixes that problem by giving everyone a shared plan and focus.
A structured organization is one where it’s clear who is responsible for what. Businesses work better together when there is just one ultimate decision-maker in each area. There’s an old saying ‘they who have two masters are perfectly free.”
In a practical sense, here’s where structure adds value:
Structured meetings save time and help teams stay focused. EOS uses tools like the Level 10 Meeting® agenda, which ensures that discussions are productive and lead to clear next steps. When meetings are efficient, the whole team benefits.
Clear Goals: EOS introduces tools like the Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO®) to define short-term and long-term goals. This helps teams target what’s most important and avoid wasting time on distractions.
With structure, communication becomes simpler and clearer. When everyone knows the format for updates and check-ins, there’s less confusion, and teams can focus on getting things done.
Beyond meetings, EOS helps organize daily work. Tools like Rocks (quarterly goals) and the Scorecard (weekly metrics) keep everyone focused on the things that are agreed to be the most important. Where there’s not agreed focus, distractions and diversions crowd out our days.
The Scorecard helps teams focus on important metrics and solve problems early. This keeps work on track and prevents issues from growing bigger.
Some might object that structures like this aren’t very entrepreneurial, that it’s not agile or allowing for creativity and innovation. Some might say business needs to be more like Jazz and less like a symphony: lots of room to play and be expressive. The great jazz musician Branford Marsalis said “there’s only freedom in structure, my man. There’s no freedom in freedom.”
Some might be concerned about developing too much ‘bureaucracy.’ My sense is that most small to medium businesses could get a lot more structured before they veer too close to the line of bureaucracy.
Be honest right now about how structured your business is. Does it reflect its leader? Is that a good thing?
Where have you observed the value of greater structure in your business or in particular processes?