7 Attributes of Agile Growth

Scalable: Framework, Tools and Advisors can help a start up scale all the way to a successful exit or IPO

Comprehensive: Thought Leadership, Practical Tools and Expert Advisors (Coaches) in 7 Key Areas (Attributes)

The 7 Attributes Agile Growth Process is easy and speedy:

1) Build an annual plan (Growth Roadmap) with the leadership team;

2) Learn and employ 7 Attributes tools continuously; and,

3) Assess progress frequently (on a regularly interval, when market conditions change, or when a new opportunity or adversity comes calling).

“Every company has a business plan, the question is whether they have intentionally and proactively planned it out, as a team, or are somewhere between “winging it” and well documented and current.

The Agile Growth Roadmap presents a company’s business plan from Core Ideology to Personal Team Member Accountability for the present quarter. The Agile Growth Roadmap is fully integrated with the 7 Attributes Framework for Growth including:

1) Current Quarter’s 7 Attributes Checklist Assessment (conducted as a company begins each quarterly planning session)

2) Multiple Thought Leaders principles throughout (e.g. Jim Collins BHAG™, Greg Crabtree’s LER, etc.)

3) Discrete one-page Tools’ output, as executed by the leadership team and transferred to the Growth Roadmap (e.g. Core Customer, Brand Promise, 5 Dysfunctions score, SWOT, etc.).”

The Executive leadership team is authentic, healthy, and aligned.

• Each executive has written and shared a personal purpose plan.
• Each executive has conducted and shared a quarterly leadership health check in.
• The executive team has built strong trust, commitment, and accountability.
• The executive team regularly reviews strategy, execution, and results.
• The executive team participates in an aligned learning and implementation process

Leaders and managers relentlessly pursue a culture of trust, results, and accountability.

• The organization’s core purpose and core values are clear, visible, and part of day-to-day operations.
• The organization has communicated a well-written concise vision to its key stakeholders.
• The organization has identified the key attributes of an ideal team member used in recruiting, onboarding, and feedback systems.
• The organization regularly assesses its overall talent profile, and discusses actions to reward, coach, and discipline members.
• Every team member participates in learning, and is effectively coached by their manager, coach or mentor.

The organization’s strategy provides a unique and valuable position in the market, and can be stated in one phrase.

• A map of the competitive landscape is current, and visually shows the organization’s key differentiators.
• A map of key activities shows the alignment of operational systems, processes, and sub-activities.
• The organization’s core economic engine is clearly identified, and measures the profit delivery units to successfully scale.
• The organization’s 10+ year and 3-year qualitative and quantitative targets have been identified, and made visible to internal constituents.
• The organization maintains a current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) matrix, with input from top talent at all levels of the organization.

The organization has annual, quarterly, and personal priorities that are visible, measured, and activated with a 13-week sprint.

• The executive team and key managers meet annually to determine the single most important metric to drive organizational success.
• The executive team and key managers meet annually and quarterly to set 3-5 priorities that drive the critical metric, culture, and profit.
• The organization has a clear and visible communication flow to include quarterly team meetings, monthly briefings, weekly leadership meetings, daily huddles, and key metrics (KPIs).
• Working teams solve business problems using collective intelligence, participation, measurement, fun, and rewards.
• Every leader, manager and key contributor in the organization has a 13-week sprint plan to execute their personal priorities each week.

The organization has annual, quarterly, and personal priorities that are visible, measured, and activated with a 13-week sprint.

• The executive team and key managers meet annually to determine the single most important metric to drive organizational success.
• The executive team and key managers meet annually and quarterly to set 3-5 priorities that drive the critical metric, culture, and profit.
• The organization has a clear and visible communication flow to include quarterly team meetings, monthly briefings, weekly leadership meetings, daily huddles, and key metrics (KPIs).
• Working teams solve business problems using collective intelligence, participation, measurement, fun, and rewards.
• Every leader, manager and key contributor in the organization has a 13-week sprint plan to execute their personal priorities each week.

The organization has a system to optimize core processes, change management, decision-making, and technology use.

• The organization leverages systems thinking for driving change, technology investment, and process improvement for a differentiated customer experience.
• Key processes in each of the 7 Attributes have been visually mapped and optimized with accountable leadership assigned
• The organization has created an agile culture of continuous improvement with a defined change management process, providing the ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions.
• A technology roadmap ensures strategic investment to systematize processes, automate labor-intensive tasks, and maximize profits.
• The organization prioritizes their innovation process to remain relevant and create future opportunities.

The organization has defined the core customer, crafted a compelling promise, and systematized the customer lifecycle.

• The organization’s strategy has generated the ideal core customer profile with a compelling, measurable value proposition (promise).
• The organization’s brand has been carefully created in a compelling story format, and elicits action by prospective core customers
• The organization leverages the power of content generation to strengthen its market position, attracting customer and media attention.
• The customer acquisition-to-referral lifecycle has been defined and systematized to generate maximum profit and minimum cost(s).
• The customer experience has been designed, optimized, and yields industry-leading retention, referrals, and testimonials