When running a business, having an operating system is key to keeping your team aligned and your business growing. There are many different operating systems your organization can choose to leverage such as Gino Wickman’s Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) or Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up.
There are benefits to both systems depending on what you are looking for or what aligns with you and your business best.
All About Entrepreneurial Operating Systems
An entrepreneurial operating system (not just the EOS one) is a blueprint for an organization to keep the entire team working toward shared goals. This blueprint helps you define everything in your business, from strategies to policies, processes to culture, and so much more.
There are many benefits to leveraging an entrepreneurial operating system, including:
Having easy-to-understand goals and strategies.
Helping your leadership team focus on the vision, while employees work toward it.
Preparing your business for growth and easy scalability.
Increasing consistency, reliability and collaboration.
What Is EOS?
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) was created by Gino Wickman. Wickman’s book “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” outlines the process he created. The EOS guideline helps organizations simplify operations, focus on what’s important and build a solid foundation for growth.
There are six components of this entrepreneurial operating system:
Vision
People
Data
Issues
Processes
Traction
The outcome for many companies who implement the Entrepreneurial Operating system is finding a simple way of operating that brings company alignment and sustainable growth.
What Is the Scaling Up System?
The Scaling Up entrepreneurial operating system comes from Verne Harnish’s book “Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…And Why the Rest Don’t.” This is his second book on entrepreneurial systems, one of his books is a core curriculum at the entrepreneurial master’s program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Instead of focusing on six areas, Harnish’s approach focuses on:
People
Strategy
Execution
Cash
While Wickman’s EOS focuses on building a solid foundation for sustainable growth, the Scaling Up philosophy focuses on growing organizations quickly.
What’s the Difference?
While both systems have the same goal in mind, helping organizations prosper, there are key differences between them that people need to take into mind when considering which one is best.
The Entrepreneurial Operating System’s main focus is helping companies organize and operate more efficiently. The EOS system wants organizations to create a solid base from which to grow. Implementation of this system should be slow. Get every step done in a methodical way to create your foundation.
The Scaling Up system’s main goal is to help organizations grow at a fast pace and stay focused on their goals. Scaling Up can generally be implemented at a faster rate than EOS. While a quicker implementation may seem like it won’t lead to sustainability, in this case, it does. It also prioritizes freeing up the leadership team’s plates to focus on the growth of the company.
Which One Is Best?
Both are successful entrepreneurial operating systems that have helped many businesses grow. One of them isn’t inherently better than the other. It all depends on your needs, goals and what system you and your team will work well with.
If you need help in your decision a business consultant can help you make the choice. You may also find it helpful to discuss operating systems with other local entrepreneurs.
EO Cincinnati is an organization for local entrepreneurs, we are here to help entrepreneurs grow in business and personally. Learn more about becoming a member here.
Commentaires