Popular Quotes from Traction Book
“Vision without traction is merely hallucination.”
“Most people are sitting on their own diamond mines. The surest ways to lose your diamond mine are to get bored, become overambitious, or start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. Find your core focus, stick to it, and devote your time and resources to excelling at it.”
“Clarify your vision and you will make better decisions about people, processes, finances, strategies, and customers.”
“If you’re truly going to commit to building a great company, a strong leadership team, and getting the right people in the right seats, you must prepare for change on your leadership team.”
“Life is much easier for everyone when you have people around you who genuinely get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it.”
“You can have one name in two seats, just not two names in one seat.”
“If you cannot risk, you cannot grow. If you cannot grow, you cannot become your best. If you cannot become your best, you cannot be happy. If you cannot be happy, what else matters?”
“STEP 1: IDENTIFY Clearly identify the real issue, because the stated problem is rarely the real one. The underlying issue is always a few layers down. Most of the time, the stated problem is a symptom of the real issue, so you must find the root of the matter. By batting the issue back and forth, you will reach the true cause.”
“Problems are like mushrooms: When it’s dark and rainy, they multiply. Under bright light, they diminish.”
“There are three stages in documenting your Way. First, identify your core processes. Then break down what happens in each one and document it. Finally, compile the information into a single package for everyone in your company.”
“The first element of marketing strategy is your target market, or “The List.” Identifying your target market involves defining your ideal customers. Who are they? Where are they? What are they?”
“When documenting the processes, you should follow the 20/80 rule. That means document the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of the results. In other words, document at a very high level. You should not be creating a 500-page document. The 20/80 rule gives you the highest return on your time invested. The trap many organizations fall into is wasting valuable time trying to document 100 percent of everything. If you document 100 percent of a core process, it might take 30 pages. If you document the most important 20 percent, you should need around six pages.”
“Imagine you’re on a desert island somewhere. None of you can talk to anyone, access e-mail, or talk on the phone. All you have is a piece of paper with a handful of numbers on it. These numbers must allow you to have an absolute pulse on your business. What are all of the numbers that must be on that piece of paper?”
“As a rule of thumb, you should end up with five to 15 numbers—hopefully closer to five. There is such a thing as too much information, so keep it simple. Once you’ve identified all the categories, you then plug them into your Scorecard template.”
“You just need to capture the basic steps in the process, because the real problem is that people are skipping steps, and not always on purpose.”
“Once you’ve determined your numbers, have everyone on the leadership team take a few minutes and write down bullet points of what the organization will look like on that date three years from now. Factors to consider include things such as number and quality of people, added resources, office environment and size, operational efficiencies, systemization, technology needs, product mix, and client mix.”
“In the left-hand column, list who is accountable for each of the numbers. Only one person is ultimately accountable for each, and it’s usually the person heading up that major function. This is the person who must deliver that weekly number to the organization, not the person who simply enters the number.”
“Once you start to document, you’re going to uncover some hidden bones. Some steps will be in place that don’t have to be. You won’t understand how the heck they ever got there in the first place. When you ask why, you’ll hear responses such as, “Well, we’ve always done it that way.”
“determine the revenue picture. Start by asking your team this question: What is the annual revenue going to be three years from now? This is always fun, because you find out if your leadership is in sync with how fast you want to grow.”
“Decide and fill in what the expected goal is for the week in each category.”
“The next step is to agree on the profit number. This will be a similar conversation, but should be settled much more quickly. After that, you’ll want to determine your specific measurables. Measurables give everyone scope and size. Every organization has one or two very specific figures that are a telltale sign of the size of the organization. It might be a number of clients, large clients, units, or widgets produced.”
“Combine these results, and after some discussion and debate, your three-year picture will typically contain 10 to 20 bullet points that describe what your organization will look like.”
“As you simplify, most of the time you will find that your core processes are too complex. By documenting the process, you will find many opportunities to dumb them down by eliminating redundant steps, taking out any confusion and any complexity. The goal is to streamline.”
“the traction side of the V/TO, which is about bringing your long-range vision down to the ground and making it real. That means deciding on what must get done this year. Remember, less is always more. Most companies make the mistake of trying to accomplish too many objectives per year. By trying to get everything done all at once, they end up accomplishing very little and feeling frustrated”
“Good news! Now that your core processes are documented, Step 3 is the easiest of all. Here’s where you take all of the great work you’ve done in Steps 1 and 2 and package it. The titles of your core processes now become your table of contents. Each documented process in Step 2 becomes one of your sections. You put them in a binder or on your company intranet. On the cover, put your company name followed by the word “Way.” If your company name is the ABC Company, then it should read “The ABC Company Way.”
“Use it! You must review your Scorecard every week to ensure that you’re on track for your vision. The real magic of using a Scorecard is not limited to managing it on a weekly basis. You will soon see 13 weeks (three months) at a glance, which enables you to see patterns and trends.”
“When everyone follows their process, it’s much easier for managers to manage, troubleshoot, identify and solve issues, and therefore grow the business. The clear lines of process enable you to let go and gain more control. Your business now becomes more scalable, which means that you can add more customers, transactions, revenue, and employees while reducing complexity.”
“What you need to show is how the new system will create efficiencies to make their lives easier and the company more successful. They need to understand how the processes tie together into a complete system.”
“When everything is important, nothing is important.”
“With the three-year picture in mind, discuss, debate, and decide on the three to seven most important priorities that must be completed this year in order for you to be on track for your three-year picture. These become your goals. They need to be specific, measurable, and attainable. This is an important point.”