Most business owners are drowning in 40-page strategic plans that nobody actually reads. They’re sitting in a dusty binder on a shelf. It’s honestly depressing. You spend three days at an off-site retreat, hire an expensive consultant, drink way too much coffee, and come out with a "strategic roadmap" that is basically a work of fiction by the time you get back to the office on Monday.
That’s where the vision traction organizer eos—or the VTO—comes in.
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It’s just two pages. That’s it. If you can’t fit your entire business strategy on two pieces of paper, you don’t have a strategy; you have a mess. Developed by Gino Wickman in his book Traction, the VTO is the heartbeat of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). It’s designed to get everyone in your company rowing in the same direction, which is surprisingly hard to do once you grow past five or ten employees.
The Eight Questions That Actually Matter
The VTO isn't some magic trick. It’s a simplifying tool. It forces a leadership team to stop arguing about the "how" and finally agree on the "where." You’d be shocked how many founders I’ve talked to who realize, six years into a partnership, that they have completely different ideas about what the company should look like in a decade.
First, you’ve got your Core Values. Forget the corporate-speak like "integrity" or "excellence." Those are permission-to-play values. You need the stuff that actually defines your culture—the quirks that make your team "your team." If you don’t hire and fire based on these, they’re just wall art.
Then comes the Core Focus. This is your "Why" and your "What." Jim Collins calls it the Hedgehog Concept. Basically, it’s what you are genetically encoded to do better than anyone else. If you're a software company, stop trying to be a consulting firm. Pick a lane.
The big one is the 10-Year Target. This is your North Star. Some people call it a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). It’s where you’re going to be in a decade. It’s meant to be scary. If it doesn't make your stomach flip a little bit, it’s probably too small.
The Vision Traction Organizer EOS and the Art of the Pivot
People think "vision" is some airy-fairy concept for people who wear turtlenecks and look at sunsets. It’s not. In the EOS world, vision is only useful if it’s backed by Traction.
The second page of the VTO is where the rubber meets the road.
You take that 10-year goal and you break it down into a 3-Year Picture. What does the revenue look like? What’s the profit? What does the office feel like? You need to describe it vividly enough that people can actually see it. If you can’t visualize the finish line, you’re just running until you collapse.
Next is the 1-Year Plan. This is where most companies fail. They try to do 50 things. The VTO forces you to pick three to seven. That’s it. If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. You focus on the "Must-Haves" to get you toward that 3-year picture.
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Then you get to the Rocks. These are 90-day priorities. Why 90 days? Because humans are biologically wired to lose focus after about three months. We get distracted by shiny objects or "emergencies" that aren't actually emergencies. By setting Rocks, you ensure that every quarter, the most important stuff gets done.
Why Your "Issues List" is Your Best Friend
Most companies hide their problems. They sweep them under the rug during board meetings because they want to look good. In the vision traction organizer eos framework, the Issues List is a sacred space.
It’s where you dump every obstacle, every "what if," and every annoyance that’s holding the company back. You don’t solve them all at once. You prioritize them. You look at the list and say, "Which of these is preventing us from hitting our Rocks?"
It’s about being brutally honest. If your sales manager is underperforming, it goes on the list. If your main product has a bug that’s driving customers crazy, it goes on the list. You can’t fix what you won't name.
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Real World Complexity: It’s Not Always Smooth
Let's be real for a second. Implementing a VTO is painful.
The first time you sit down to fill this out, your leadership team will probably fight. Someone will want the 10-year target to be $100 million, and someone else will think $20 million is "more realistic." These debates are healthy. They are the sound of a company actually becoming aligned.
I’ve seen companies spend two full days just arguing over their Core Values. It feels like a waste of time until you realize that those values will dictate every hiring decision for the next five years. It’s an investment in sanity.
One common mistake is treating the VTO as a static document. It’s not a "set it and forget it" thing. You have to review it every quarter. You have to share it with the entire company. If your entry-level employees don’t know what’s on the VTO, you’ve failed. They need to know where the ship is going just as much as the captain does.
How to Start Using the VTO Today
You don't need a certified EOS Implementer to start, though they definitely help if you have the budget and a particularly stubborn leadership team. You can literally download the template for free and start filling it out.
Start with the easy stuff. Define your Core Values. Look at your team—who are the "superstars"? What traits do they share? That’s your starting point. Then, look at your "bottom performers." What traits do they lack that the stars have?
Once you have the values, move to the 10-Year Target. Don't overthink the math. Just ask, "Where do we want to be?"
Your Actionable Next Steps:
- Download the VTO Template: Go to the official EOS Worldwide site and grab the PDF. Don't try to make your own version in Excel yet; stick to the proven format.
- Schedule a "Vision Day": Clear your calendar. No phones. No emails. Just you and your leadership team in a room for 8 hours.
- Focus on the "Who" before the "What": Before you set big goals, make sure you have the right people in the right seats. A VTO won't save a toxic culture or a team of B-players.
- Commit to the 90-Day Cycle: Set your first set of Rocks. Make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). Hold each other accountable.
- Communicate the Plan: Once the VTO is "done" (it's never truly done, but once you have a version you all agree on), present it to the whole company. Answer the hard questions. Show them how their daily work contributes to the 10-Year Target.
The VTO is about clarity. It’s about cutting through the noise and focusing on the few things that actually move the needle. Stop planning for the sake of planning and start building for the sake of winning.