Operating System Introduction

An Operating System can help bring order, focus, and efficiency to the inevitable chaos that comes with running a high-growth startup.

What is a Business Operating System?

An operating system is how a leadership team runs the business at the highest level. How it plans, executes, communicates, and holds itself (and it’s people) accountable. It’s a framework that sits across the entire business—think of it as an umbrella that is the layer atop everything else.

An operating system is a structure for how a business is run and spans across the entire organization—the company, departments, teams, working groups, and individuals. As you roll it out and apply it consistently, it will help bring operational excellence to each facet of the business.

An operating system is “… the common structure, principles, and practices necessary to drive the organization. The objectives of such systems are to ensure daily work is focused on the organisation’s strategic objectives and is done in the most efficient way. The systems deal with the questions “why” (purpose of the work), “what” (specific objectives of the work), and “how” (the processes used to do the work).”-Wikipedia

An operating system allows you to set the vision and then execute, communicate, and report on results in an efficient manner. More than anything, it’s a discipline that helps define the cadence with which you will operate.

Does Your Company Need a Business Operating System?

An operating system helps ensure everyone is working and communicating in the same way, rowing in the same direction and on the same page. It helps a rapidly growing team to know what to expect when to expect it, and how they will be measured. It helps create alignment across the entire organization.

Here are some signs that an operating system can help your company:

• The business just “feels” out of control.
• The business is stuck—you are running in place and can’t get anything done or aren’t making enough progress.
• It feels like you keep solving the same problems over and over again.
• Executing on initiatives is more complex and complicated than it should be.
• You are struggling to create a culture of accountability. People aren’t sure what’s expected of them and how they are measured. Balls get dropped, and initiatives flounder.
• You have high employee turnover and/or low employee engagement. Staff is frustrated because they are unclear on company vision, goals, strategies, and overall direction.
• Metrics that are all over the place—sometimes you measure X, other times you measure Y. Different departments are using different measurements of success.
• You can’t get out of “whack-a-mole” mode—moving from one problem or crisis to another, never getting to work on business strategy, planning, and execution.

How to Implement an Operating System

To create your operating system you will need to decide, define, document, and deploy these things: