Free scorecard
The Operating System Scorecard: twenty-two questions about how your company actually runs.
I built this list to score five business operating systems: EOS, Scaling Up, 4DX, the Great Game of Business, and E-Myth. Same 22 capabilities, same scale, no favorites. Every one of them is strong in some places and thin in others.
Then owners started asking how their own company would score. That's this tool. Answer honestly and in about six minutes you'll see where you're weak, which system is strong there, and the first move to make.
Score your own company
22 questions, about six minutes. No typing, just four buttons per question. At the end I ask for your email and send you the read, so you can forward it to the people who have to live with the answer.
People (1 of 5)
People
Direction (2 of 5)
Direction
Execution (3 of 5)
Execution
Money (4 of 5)
Money
Fit (5 of 5)
Fit
You're done. Where do I send the read?
Your weakest five
Start here
Why 22
No operating system covers all 22 capabilities.
Each one is strongest where its own author was solving a real problem. EOS earns its reputation on accountability. Scaling Up goes deeper on strategy and cash. The other three each carry a similar bias built in. Score any of them against the full list of 22 and you'll find real gaps.
This scorecard uses the same 22 capabilities and the same four-point scale I used to grade those five systems, so your company gets measured the same honest way.
Every question
Here are all 22 questions, so you know what you're walking into.
Three of the 22 describe a system rather than a company, so on this page they ask about your own language, your own overhead, and your own ability to change.
People
- The people I have are in the right jobs.
- When I need to hire someone great, I know how to find them.
- Every part of this business has one person's name on it.
- People here say the hard thing out loud instead of in the parking lot.
- I'm actively teaching the people under me to lead.
Direction
- My team can tell you where this company is going in five years.
- I can explain why a customer picks us over the other guy.
- We decide what matters most each quarter and write it down.
- Everyone knows the two or three things that have to get done this quarter.
- I know where next quarter's new business is coming from.
- People in our market know who we are before we call them.
Execution
- The way we do the work is written down, and people follow it.
- What we promise the customer is what they actually get.
- When something breaks twice, we fix the process behind it.
- I look at the same short list of numbers every week.
- My team knows on Friday whether the week was a win.
Money
- I know what our cash looks like 90 days from now.
- My team understands how this company makes money.
- I know which customers and services actually make us money.
Fit
- We have our own words for how we work, and people actually use them.
- The way we run doesn't feel like extra work to my team.
- We can change how we work without the whole thing falling apart.
Straight answers
Questions about the scorecard.
- What is the operating system scorecard?
- Twenty-two questions about how your company actually runs. It scores you the same way I scored EOS, Scaling Up, 4DX, Great Game, and E-Myth in the article, so you can see where your gaps are and which system closes them.
- How long does it take?
- About six minutes. Twenty-two questions, four choices each, no typing.
- Do I need to know anything about operating systems?
- No. Every question is about your company, in plain language. If you have never heard the phrase "business operating system," you can still answer all of them.
- Do I have to give you my email?
- Yes, to see your results. I tell you that before you start, not after. You also get the read in your inbox so you can forward it to your leadership team.
- Will it tell me which system to buy?
- It tells you where you are weakest and which systems are strong there. None of the five covers everything, so most owners end up building their own out of two. That is the honest answer and it is what the scorecard gives you.
The scorecard tells you where the gap is. It doesn't close it.
One free call. We'll look at your weakest capability and whether I'm the right person to help you fix it. Worst case, you leave with a clearer picture than you walked in with.