I’m back with the series on EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) - a masterclass with Scott Morin, owner and lead consultant of Bytown Ventures. For today’s focus, Scott and I talked about problem-solving.
Although problems sometimes have a bad reputation, they can also be an opportunity for a corporation to do something interesting and exciting. Perhaps buy another business? The trick here is to allow yourself time and space to think. When you don't take the time to ideate and discuss, things rarely get done. In the EOS system, they refer to "issues" as anything that prevents you (business owners) from taking advantage of chances to move forward.
Identify, discuss, and solve
Scott says, “We teach a problem solving track. We call it IDS - identify, discuss and solve. We'll work with an organization to make sure, first of all, that they're documenting their short-term and long-term issues. That needs to be a discipline within the organization. And then it's all about prioritization. When you get together as a team, you might have 10 to 15 issues that are in front of you. The reality is you're not going to solve all your problems today. So what are your top three? And that way we'll just get into a kind of a discipline of identifying our top three and solving those.”
This can work for issues both micro and macro. For example, on a more tactical front, a business might be facing lead generation issues. Perhaps something that normally happens regularly, on auto-pilot, hasn't happened recently. Or on a more macro level, maybe you have bigger pipeline issues. Perhaps you’re not converting your prospects at as high a level as you were before. “And it's usually because we've taken our eyes off the ball with regards to our pricing model or our demo process. So what we are doing within EOS is to dig down to what is the root of the specific issue. And then we're going to create some specific “to-dos” that might solve the issue very quickly, or at the very least make that situation better.”
Systems don’t mean templates and ‘one-size-fits-all’
Scott and I talked about perceptions that form around the idea of working within a pre-defined system. Scott says, “Don't be afraid that you're going to lose the soul of your company by running a system like EOS. One of our mantras is ‘systemized means predictable’. EOS is about creating a common language. Get everyone on the same page within your organization on where you're going, and how you're planning to get there. It creates a culture of accountability and execution so that you can realize that vision. It is all about creating an environment where people actually enjoy working with each other, and feed off of each other, and communicate really well with each other. So you can humanize the exceptional.”
An invitation
This EOS mini series is sponsored by “Elevated Conversations” with me, Colleen O'Connell Campbell, a roundtable mastermind for co-founders and business owners who want a cash rich exit in the next five to 10 years.
If you’re in Ottawa, you may be interested to hear that I'm reintroducing “Elevated Conversations” which originated in 2018 where I brought together smart investors and business owners to talk about interesting topics in technology and finance that are disrupting our world. With COVID and the end of dinner parties, we moved to virtual roundtables and now I’m bringing back masterminds in person. Let me know via LinkedIn or email if you’re interested. The date is between the last week of October and the first week of November in 2022