Has Company Hit Growth Ceiling? A Practical Guide to Building Team Accountability and Focus

Is Your Business Stuck in Chaos and Unproductive Meetings? How a Simple Operating System Can Restore Order.

Feeling overwhelmed by a chaotic business? Discover how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) helps you clarify vision, build team accountability, and solve problems for good. Get the practical tools to break through your growth ceiling and create a self-managing company.

Ready to fix your business? Continue reading to implement the simple ‘Identify-Discuss-Solve’ method in your next meeting, define your first 90-day ‘Rock’ for immediate focus, and learn the accountability framework that gets your entire team on the same page.

Genres

Entrepreneurship, Management, Leadership, Career Success

Transform your struggling business into a well-oiled machine.

Get A Grip (2012) follows the story of Swan Services, a fictional company with real problems: frustrating cycles of endless meetings, finger-pointing, and declining results despite hard work. Through implementing a radical new system, the leadership team learns to establish clear vision, build discipline, and create organizational focus that transforms their struggling business. This practical fable demonstrates how real managerial tools can help any entrepreneurial leader break free from operational chaos and achieve sustainable growth.

Do you feel like you’re working harder than ever but getting nowhere? Countless entrepreneurs hit this frustrating ceiling: meetings multiply but decisions stagnate, and finger-pointing replaces progress.

This summary tells the relatable story of Swan Service, a fictional struggling company who decides to try a battle-tested system called Entrepreneurial Operating System – or EOS, which has helped thousands of real companies break through their barriers.

EOS offers a clear roadmap out of operational chaos. As we explore it, you’ll learn to build focus, establish discipline, and transform your company culture – turning your business back into the exciting venture you originally envisioned.

When work stops working

Swan Services had been a success story – steady growth, happy customers, and a thriving team culture. Eileen and her partner Vic had built the $7 million company from scratch and grown it consistently for years.

But suddenly, after what felt like their big breakthrough year, the wheels came off. Sales targets were missed, customers started leaving, and even their best employees began doubting themselves. What’s worse, the founding partners began turning on each other, with explosive confrontations nearly destroying their decade-long partnership.

The story of Swan Services reveals several critical business truths. One is that past success doesn’t immunize you against future problems. Many companies hit invisible growth ceilings where their existing systems and leadership styles simply stop working. The very approaches that got you to $7 million might be exactly the ones that prevent you from reaching $20 million.

Another crucial truth is that data without context can paralyze teams instead of motivating them. When Eileen presented her team with spreadsheets full of declining metrics, her sales VP tried to quit on the spot, convinced she was the problem. High performers often internalize company struggles, while others deflect blame to external factors like “bad luck” or market conditions.

The thing is, internal teams struggle to solve systemic problems alone. Just as you can’t see your own blind spots, leadership teams embedded in daily operations find it difficult to identify why their proven methods have stopped working.

That’s why struggling businesses often benefit from an outside “implementer” – someone who specializes in helping businesses gain new traction. There are proven systems for breaking through growth plateaus, but they require fresh perspectives and structured approaches that go beyond traditional consulting.

When your business stops growing despite your best efforts, examine your systems rather than blaming your people. Sometimes the very foundation that built your success needs rebuilding to support your next phase of growth.

Why meetings don’t meet expectations

Swan Services founders Eileen and Vic knew something was wrong when their leadership team rated their meetings a dismal 4 out of 10. Despite being successful entrepreneurs, they watched their company stagnate in real time. In their weekly meetings, everyone talked endlessly without reaching decisions, while the same problems resurfaced month after month.

Their breakthrough came when they brought in consultant Alan. Alan presented the team with a deceptively simple operating system called Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS. It’s built around six core components that transform how businesses run.

The Vision Component focuses on aligning everyone toward shared goals. Most companies suffer from too much vision, with leaders giving conflicting messages that confuse their teams rather than unite them.

Next we have the People Component, which requires both “right people” who are a cultural fit and “right seats”, meaning strategic positions that fit their talents. You need both elements working together, which means making tough decisions about talented people who don’t share your values.

The third component – the Data Component – instructs you to replace gut feelings with 5 to 15 weekly numbers that give you a real pulse on your business. Instead of talking to six people to understand what’s happening, you simply check the scorecard.

Then there’s the Issues Component, which uses a simple “Identify-Discuss-Solve” method. Most teams spend all their time discussing problems without actually identifying root causes or implementing lasting solutions.

Component number five is the Process Component, which does away with massive procedure manuals. You document your handful of core processes at a high level and ensure everyone follows them consistently.

Finally, the Traction Component keeps everyone focused through 90-day priorities called “Rocks” and structured weekly meetings. People naturally lose focus approximately every quarter, so this creates a rhythm that maintains momentum.

These six components are the basis of the Entrepreneurial Operation System. The magic happens when all six components work together. Suddenly, running your business becomes calmer, more profitable, and more enjoyable.

The leadership puzzle

After identifying the core components that make or break a business, Swan Services realised they had a leadership problem. Team members constantly stepped on each other’s toes, priorities multiplied endlessly, and none of them owned the big picture.

New hope arrived in the form of Alan, a consultant brought in to work with the leadership team. The transformation he implemented revealed powerful lessons about structure and accountability within the company.

Alan identified five critical skills every leadership team must master: Simplify, Delegate, Predict, Systemize, and Structure.

Simplify means cutting through complexity that naturally accumulates as organizations expand – successful leaders learn to say “less is more” and focus energy on what truly matters.

Delegate requires leaders to build capable extensions of themselves rather than becoming the bottleneck for every decision. A good leader must genuinely let go and trust others to own outcomes.

Predict operates on two levels: long-term vision setting – understanding where the company needs to be in 90+ days – and short-term problem solving, which means quickly identifying which daily issues need immediate attention versus which can wait.

Systemize involves documenting core processes at a high level using the 20/80 rule – capturing 20 percent of the steps to achieve 80 percent of the results, and creating consistency without bureaucratic overhead.

Finally, Structure means designing the right organizational framework before worrying about people, ensuring clear roles and single points of accountability for every major function. Companies that master these abilities break through growth ceilings, while those that don’t typically flatline or fail as complexity overwhelms their leadership capacity.

In terms of different leadership roles, every organization needs the following core functions working in harmony: the Visionary who handles big ideas, culture, and industry trends. The Integrator who manages day-to-day operations and makes sure goals are actually met. On top of that, you need Marketing Leaders who own brand building, Sales Specialists who hit revenue goals, Operations Managers who oversee project delivery and a Finance Leader who keeps the score.

It’s important that each team has a clear lead – single accountability prevents the classic trap where “everyone’s responsible” means nobody’s responsible. When Swan Services’ Sales team stopped sharing responsibilities and started owning specific functions, decision-making accelerated and finger-pointing disappeared.

The fact is that growing companies need structure before strategy. Master the five leadership abilities, create clear organizational roles with single points of accountability, and watch confusion transform into clarity-driven execution that actually delivers results.

Building the vision

What’s the difference between a company vision that inspires action and one that collects dust on the office wall? At Swan Services, the leadership team discovered the answer lies in creating specific, measurable frameworks that guide daily decisions, rather than crafting beautiful mission statements.

Swan’s journey began with an uncomfortable truth-telling session. When they used a People Analyzer to rate each leader against newly defined core values, CFO Carol scored below the minimum standard – receiving “minus” ratings for humility and positive attitude. This awkward moment revealed a crucial principle: effective core values must be behavioral rather than aspirational. They can’t be traits you wish you had, basic requirements like honesty, or characteristics that helped initially but won’t scale.

The team finally developed two behavioral core values: “Be humbly confident” and “Do what you say”. These work because they’re specific enough to guide hiring and firing decisions. You can actually observe whether someone embodies these traits, making them powerful cultural tools rather than meaningless platitudes.

Swan also redefined their target market, choosing focus over breadth. Instead of chasing any client with a budget, they identified ideal customers using three filters: demographic, geographic,and psychographic. They honed in on the following target: IT directors at large companies in the Upper Midwest who were seeking strategic technology partners rather than the lowest bidders. This laser focus allowed their small sales team to compete effectively against larger competitors.

Swan’s process also revealed how companies lose focus by chasing revenue outside their sweet spot. They identified their core focus as “solving real problems with the right technology” – forcing them to consider abandoning profitable but unfocused work that was draining resources.

The most revealing moment came when founder Evan voluntarily stepped down from leading operations, recognizing he wasn’t the right fit for that role. This kind of honest self-assessment only happens when teams share a clear vision of where they’re heading and what success looks like.

Swan’s experience proves that vision building requires ongoing commitment to getting specific about where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and who you’re serving. The most inspiring vision means nothing without systems to make it real.

The wrong person problem

Have you ever kept an employee, hoping they’d eventually “get it,” only to watch them revert to old habits the moment pressure mounted? Swan Services faced exactly this dilemma with Carol, their CFO who seemed to improve after coaching but quickly returned to creating conflict and undermining colleagues.

The company’s trajectory through this challenge reveals a harsh business truth: cultural misfits rarely transform, they just get better at hiding their true nature temporarily. Despite Carol’s initial efforts to change, she eventually exploded in frustration, blamed the company culture, and quit – a pattern many leaders will recognize.

So how do you deal with people problems like these? Swam implemented several practical approaches. They introduced a “three-strike rule,” which provided structure while remaining fair. They made a commitment to document specific incidents with individuals, have direct conversations, and set clear expectations. And they made sure that leadership partners presented a united front, through regular “Same Page Meetings” to prevent mixed messages that undermine authority.

Swan used their quarterly meetings to help create shared vision and values. Their team learned that completing 80 percent of their quarterly priorities – called “Rocks,” requires brutal focus – fewer, well-chosen goals consistently outperform ambitious wish lists. Their quarterly meetings created what Alan called a “90-day world,” pulling leaders out of daily firefighting to work on strategic priorities.

Most importantly, Swan improved their hiring to prevent problems before they even arise. When they hired Tom, their new operations leader, they used their “Core Values speech” during interviews – essentially trying to scare away anyone who wouldn’t fit their culture. This approach, combined with network referrals from trusted team members, helped them find someone who integrated seamlessly.

Rather than hoping the wrong people will change, successful companies build systems that attract the right ones from the beginning. Swan’s transformation shows that addressing cultural misfits quickly, though painful in the moment, creates space for the right people to thrive.

From chaos to clarity

After months of implementing new business systems, Swan Services finally hit its stride. The company that once struggled with communication breakdowns and missed targets was now exceeding revenue goals, delighting clients, and giving its leaders actual work-life balance.

Swan’s journey shows what organizational maturity looks like in practice. Sustainable growth happens through systems, not individual heroics. By their first full year using structured quarterly reviews and clear accountability processes, the company had moved from constant firefighting to genuine strategic thinking. Founder Eileen went from working 70-hour weeks while her family life crumbled to limiting herself to 50 hours and actually attending her kids’ soccer games.

Several practical tools made this transformation possible. Swan implemented a new approach to client management – ranking customers not just by revenue, but by overall profitability and ease of working relationship. They discovered that some high-revenue clients were actually draining resources through constant scope changes and payment delays. By either improving these relationships, raising fees, or exiting problematic accounts, they boosted both profits and employee satisfaction.

The company also learned that role clarity naturally reduces interpersonal conflict. When team members understood their specific functions, disagreements became productive debates about business outcomes rather than personal battles. Clear accountability allowed leaders to delegate more effectively, freeing up time for strategic work.

Perhaps most importantly, Swan achieved true organizational independence. When their consultant Alan began transitioning them to run their own quarterly meetings, it marked genuine business maturity. The company had evolved from personality-driven chaos to process-driven excellence that didn’t depend on the founders’ constant involvement.

Conclusion

In this summary to Get A Grip by Gino Wickman and Mike Paton, you’ve learned that a few simple strategy tips can save a struggling business.

Swan Services, a fictional, successful $7 million company, suddenly hit an invisible wall. Despite years of growth, sales stagnated, customers left, and the founding partners Eileen and Vic began turning on each other.

Enter consultant Alan, who introduced EOS – Entrepreneurial Operating System – built around six components: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. Swan’s transformation wasn’t easy – they had to fire Carol, a CFO who was culturally toxic despite her skills, and make brutal decisions about restructuring roles for accountability.

The breakthrough came through 90-day focused priorities, behavioral core values, and tracking 5-15 key weekly metrics instead of gut feelings. Within a year, Swan exceeded revenue goals. The company evolved from founder-dependent chaos to a well-oiled machine that could run itself – true organizational maturity.