Ok, this is weird, as I write this, I am a Professional EOS implementer; but I was not always an EOS implementer; in fact I was actually a business operator and EOS client for over ten years with 2 different organizations. So why did I originally hire an EOS implementer? First off, I was sold on EOS as an operating system when I joined my first private enterprise (Image One, referenced throughout the book Traction by Gino Wickman). But when I started my own company, after some initial hesitancy by our leadership team, we decided to adopt the EOS operating system and I decided that we were going to hire an EOS implementer. Here is why hiring an EOS implementer was a no brainer for me:
1. Fair Play for the Integrator: As what we call the Integrator, (day-to-day decision maker) I needed to make some substantial changes. But on a team with strong leaders, try running an offsite and also recommending those changes. For the other individuals in the room, your role can be confusing…. are you the Integrator, or the discussion facilitator, or the agenda moderator?…and this confusion affects the team’s ability to consider your input in the offsite dialogue. For example, if you cut a conversation short, was your action to help with time? Or was it to avoid a tangent? Or were you just trying to have the upper hand in the discussion since you’re running the meeting? That’s just one point of contention. However, if you can take a seat with the team, your role immediately becomes clearer. You’ve removed “facilitator”, “moderator”, and you are now “at the table” with your team. Sure, the Integrator is still the decision maker, but now your role is the same as it is every day and you are now playing fair in everyone’s eyes
2. Relaxed and Focused: As the Integrator on the team I was a fairly intense individual. I tried to handle everything without dropping anything. Now try to add to that: starting on time, facilitating discussion, deciding on breaks, achieving objectives, ending on time, etc. I might have blown up….so rather than all that, I just needed to be 1) open and honest and 2) focus on the issue at hand. Of course it also helped to wear jeans, shorts, or flip flops.
3. Bounce Ideas: An EOS implementer provided me on-demand access to a professional that knew both my business and my team. But what made the relationship even more valuable is that he was neither in the company nor on the board of directors. I could speak freely without consideration of personal agenda.
4. Accountability: I doubted our leadership team would do any self-reporting and would likely use the “busy excuse” for every missed goal. I felt that an outside coach had a far better shot at success, especially in the first 2 years.
5. Broker: I needed someone to help me create the context and facilitate some of the most important conversations our leadership needed to have, such as “Who should be on the leadership team”. That was something I could have tried over a longer period of time (likely months or even years). But I chose to get it done in a few hours with the help of our implementer.
5.5 Price/Value: We were trying to increase the value of the organization by tens of millions of dollars in a very short window. For less than the cost of our receptionist I had a teacher, facilitator and coach for my entire leadership team.
These were the top factors in my decision-making process and they continued to be the same reasons why I retained my EOS implementer for the next 7 years.
1. Fair Play for the Integrator: As what we call the Integrator, (day-to-day decision maker) I needed to make some substantial changes. But on a team with strong leaders, try running an offsite and also recommending those changes. For the other individuals in the room, your role can be confusing…. are you the Integrator, or the discussion facilitator, or the agenda moderator?…and this confusion affects the team’s ability to consider your input in the offsite dialogue. For example, if you cut a conversation short, was your action to help with time? Or was it to avoid a tangent? Or were you just trying to have the upper hand in the discussion since you’re running the meeting? That’s just one point of contention. However, if you can take a seat with the team, your role immediately becomes clearer. You’ve removed “facilitator”, “moderator”, and you are now “at the table” with your team. Sure, the Integrator is still the decision maker, but now your role is the same as it is every day and you are now playing fair in everyone’s eyes
2. Relaxed and Focused: As the Integrator on the team I was a fairly intense individual. I tried to handle everything without dropping anything. Now try to add to that: starting on time, facilitating discussion, deciding on breaks, achieving objectives, ending on time, etc. I might have blown up….so rather than all that, I just needed to be 1) open and honest and 2) focus on the issue at hand. Of course it also helped to wear jeans, shorts, or flip flops.
3. Bounce Ideas: An EOS implementer provided me on-demand access to a professional that knew both my business and my team. But what made the relationship even more valuable is that he was neither in the company nor on the board of directors. I could speak freely without consideration of personal agenda.
4. Accountability: I doubted our leadership team would do any self-reporting and would likely use the “busy excuse” for every missed goal. I felt that an outside coach had a far better shot at success, especially in the first 2 years.
5. Broker: I needed someone to help me create the context and facilitate some of the most important conversations our leadership needed to have, such as “Who should be on the leadership team”. That was something I could have tried over a longer period of time (likely months or even years). But I chose to get it done in a few hours with the help of our implementer.
5.5 Price/Value: We were trying to increase the value of the organization by tens of millions of dollars in a very short window. For less than the cost of our receptionist I had a teacher, facilitator and coach for my entire leadership team.
These were the top factors in my decision-making process and they continued to be the same reasons why I retained my EOS implementer for the next 7 years.
A Discovery: Sunday Sauce
While I lived in Metro New York (ok…New Jersey) we found this Italian restaurant in Hoboken, Tutta Pasta*. They served a pasta dish called “Sunday Sauce” with meatballs, sausage, and ribs slow cooked in a sauce and served over their homemade pasta. Ever since, I’ve tried unsuccessfully to replicate the intense flavor of the sauce.
FINALLY, a recent halfhearted web search unearthed a gem from, of all people, Tony Danza who posted a recipe on the Food Network site.
A few suggestions, if I may:
*Tutta Pasta moved to Brooklyn, NY
FINALLY, a recent halfhearted web search unearthed a gem from, of all people, Tony Danza who posted a recipe on the Food Network site.
A few suggestions, if I may:
- Reduce the salt levels by 50% especially if you do all the meat. Trust me, you can always add more.
- I did 50% ground beef/50% ground pork for the meatballs.
- Be sure to squeeze the tomatoes as he suggests, plus my family gets excited when I do it.
- There is an enormous amount of garlic in this recipe. Use all of it and make sure it’s fresh.
- The recipe is a not crystal clear on the order of things, but you’ll figure it out. Just read it a few times before beginning.
- It’s says easy, but it should also say “long”….budget 2 hours of messing around and 2 hours to cook it.
*Tutta Pasta moved to Brooklyn, NY
I completed my second rendering of this “pot of love” during Sunday’s World Cup Final. Here is a picture of the meatballs (I decided not to dredge this batch in flour). Don’t mind the wall, that’ another story that should have a happy ending.
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