Have Trust and Be Done

One of the transformations that happens to companies when they implement EOS is that they create a leadership team that trusts each other. Often, before EOS, company leaders spend lots of time in unnecessary meetings updating each other on commitments they have made to each other or on the progress of the functional group they lead for the company.

It’s pretty common for the sales chief to keep the rest of the leadership informed about the revenue forecast, but often it becomes more than a scorecard or dashboard. It devolves into an elaborate kabuki dance where the sales chief is forced to dissect each opportunity and be bombarded with questions from non-sales executives about what to do. Less commonly, the same kind of thing takes place with the engineering or development group. Project by project explanations, percentage complete being debated, scope statements being examined – why? Lack of trust.

Companies who implement EOS, journey from little or no trust to the nirvana of complete trust. When the engineering chief says she will deliver the next release on time, everybody believes her. They believe her because she has demonstrated in the past that if she can’t deliver it on time, she will say so and ask for help. Companies which implement EOS get to the point that when one of their leadership team peers says “I’ve got it” they believe it. They trust that it will be done.

In addition to their weekly leadership team meetings, EOS leaders meet quarterly and select 3 to 7 of the most important projects that the company has to get done in the next 90 days (we call them Rocks) and commits to making them happen, not just trying. And as the leaders go, so goes the rest of the employees.

Here is what one of my clients has to say on the subject of accountability in his company. If you can’t see the video below, you can view it here.