by Paul Batson, O.D. Center Director VisionAmerica of Birmingham I took a copy of Gino Wickman's book, Traction, on my most recent vacation. (Thankfully, this vacation was a lot better than the one I wrote about last year.) There are very few books that I read where I finish up and think ‘Wow, that’s a really good read,’ but this is one of them. This book was released in April of 2012 and is where Wickman logged the details of his now famed Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Don't let the name fool you! I found multiple principles in this book that could be applied to any business regardless of age or size. In fact, we, as doctors, have all likely known the five common frustrations Wickman identifies for entrepreneurs in the introduction of the book. Do any of these sound familiar?
While not at all comprehensive, I have included a few things I found interesting from the book below. If you'd like to order the book and check it out for yourself, click here.
Wickman is a strong proponent of a solid vision for every business and rightly places the responsibility of executing the vision squarely on the shoulders of the owner. He writes, "If you're not happy with the current state of your company, you have three choices: You can live with it, leave it, or change it. If the first two are not an option, it's time to admit that you don't want to live this way any longer." The EOS is defined as a "holistic, self-sustaining system that addresses the six aspects of your business." It is Wickman's solution to overcome the five common frustrations and brings your true vision of your business to fruition. Wickman kicks off chapter 1 by introducing the six components of the EOS System:
Vision Wickman includes a Vision Traction Organizer in the book that can walk you through how to create a strong vision for your company. He writes, "Most entrepreneurs can clearly see their vision. The problem is that they make the mistake of thinking that everyone else in the organization sees it, too." How true is that? Communication is the name of the game when it comes to your vision for your practice. The following questions are posed as a way to help you shape your vision:
While we don't have time to dive into each of these individually, the quarterly rocks Wickman touches on are a unique approach. He says it isn't enough to know what your one-year or even 10-year plan is. You also have to know what your plan is for the next 90 days. Wickman lays out a plan where 90-day goals are established and communicated to all employees in a short "state-of-the-company meeting" each quarter. You can likely imagine how much more driven team members and managers would be each quarter as they worked together to achieve a 90-day goal. People Although getting the right people in the right seats is not a novel thought, the Traction approach utilizes a custom People Analyzer and Accountability Chart to help ensure an organization is operating at maximum efficiency. It's no secret that leaders often struggle to delegate tasks, but the phrase "delegate and elevate" shows up throughout the book as one of the key ways to overcome the five common frustrations. This is not easily done without truly understanding your team and their strengths and weaknesses. The accountability tool provided could also reveal issues that have held your practice back for years and put you and your team on the right track to hit your 90-day goals. Data Chapter 5 begins like this: Picture a small plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Halfway across, the captain announces, "I've got bad news and I've got good news. The bad news is the gauges aren't working. We are hopelessly lost, I have no idea how fast we're flying or in what direction and I don't know how much fuel we have left. The good news is that we're making great time!" Wickman's point is that the vast majority of companies are flying blind with no data to "let them gauge where they are, where they are going or if they are heading in the right direction." Even still, he points out that most business owners feel like things are going really well. The point driven home in this chapter is that there is power in being able to manage your business through a chosen handful of numbers. Once you figure out what the drivers are for your business, tracking them will allow you to see pattern and trends for future growth. Here is a brief summary of why Wickman believes numbers and measurement of data are so important:
What data drives your practice? Number of new patients? Revenue per patient? AR Days? Issues Your practice will never gain traction if you can't quickly face and solve issues. Wickman notes that it is human nature to avoid making hard decisions and that most people would prefer not to address them altogether. One interesting (and likely true) observation made by Wickman is that the majority of leaders spend their time discussing everything, but rarely solving anything. He writes, "Your ability to succeed is in direct proportion to your ability to solve problems. The better you are at solving problems, the more successful you become." To effectively resolve issues in any business, Wickman recommends a simple approach of IDS:
According to Wickman, identifying the true problem facing a business may actually take longer than the discussion or solving. He says this because he believes that once the root problem is discovered, the solution becomes more obvious and expedites the resolution. The IDS approach is one that can be implemented throughout any business as an effective way for employees and leaders to resolve and move past any issues. Process Wickman observes that there are 6-10 processes that make up every business. The term department may be more familiar to most of us. He notes that common processes are HR, marketing, sales, operations, accounting, etc. The point driven across in this chapter is that every process in your business needs to be documented, packaged, and followed by all. Consistency is the key. Documenting each process will allow any obvious inefficiencies to be addressed. Employees cannot be consistent and efficient if everyone is doing things their own way. In a medical office, charts are passed from the front desk, to nurses, to billing, and so on. Having each and every process documented, reviewed and agreed upon, and then followed, will truly propel any business toward its goals. Traction "The ability to create accountability and discipline and then execute is the area of greatest weakness in most organizations," writes Wickman. He goes on to point out that what holds most organizations back is the fear of creating discomfort, but that it is necessary when building a great company. Wickman says that once the first five elements of the EOS are in place, there are two essentials to building traction: Rocks and a Meeting Pulse. Rocks are the three-to-seven things that need to be accomplished within the next 90 days to drive the business toward its long-term vision. Each 90-day period is seen as a stepping stone to your vision. Once you establish your rocks, they are tracked and reported at the 90-day meeting. This meeting, along with the weekly meeting pulse, is designed to resolve issues that arise within those 90-day spans and ensure everyone stays on the path to achieve the goals set at the beginning of the quarter. Conclusion One of the best things about Wickman's approach in Traction is that he breaks things down in a way that makes them seem attainable. As doctors, it often feels like every piece of the practice is simultaneously moving at 100 mph. You may not want to implement every phase of Traction, but if you think a few of the concepts mentioned in the book would help make your practice more efficient and profitable, I would encourage you to give it a read.
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