Economy heroes strategy sprint

The Economy Heroes Strategy Sprint1
The Economy
Heroes Strategy
Sprint
1 2 53 64 7
Create an Execution Habit and Win
Your Race this Year

Brent Sapp is a Strategic Advisor, Product Innovator, Author,
Entrepreneur Activist, and Founder of the Economy Heroes
movement. His experience spans multiple industries including
Health Care, Education and Software. He’s worked with
startups, mid-market companies, and Fortune the 500 to help
C.E.O.s and their teams to break through the second stage
of growth. His company (www.incnav.com) equips CEOs to
make team alignment and accountability a routine so that
they can create a sustainable Execution Habit. He helps CEOs
and Founders transition through second stage growth where
over 90% of companies fail. He has over 500 companies
under his belt to verify that the right strategy made simple
and measurable gets executed.
Brent Sapp

In 2004 Carl Daikeler, CEO of Beachbody, did something extraordinary.
He launched a revolution in the world of exercise by removing the
vehicle Power 90 Extreme, or “P90X”. Carl’s home exercise regimen, via
DVD, included interval training, weight training, martial arts, yoga, and
calisthenics; all supported by a comprehensive nutrition plan. The P90X
workouts were scheduled on a 3 month calendar. The DVD sessions
included a built-in personal trainer, legendary exercise guru Tony Horton,
and several other real-life participants to provide a visual example and
a pace to follow during the workouts. P90X enabled both athletes
and not-so-athletic across America and around the world to develop
something they didn’t have before: an Exercise Habit.

The program found it’s initial audience with college students but quickly
spread to expanding age groups, including mine. I was 52 when my
son invited me to engage with P90X. I tried other forms of exercise and
diet, but struggled to develop a routine. I couldn’t overcome my lack
of exercise training or my own inability to focus on the right things in the
time available. I was too busy to make exercise and disciplined nutrition
habitual enough to see results. I was also sick of carrying a 30 pound tire
around my middle. I was stuck.
Finally I reached the point where I was unwilling to postpone my race to
do and do it when he told me to do it, for 90 days. That was four years
ago. Today I’m 30 lbs lighter I and still use P90X at least 3 times per week.
More important, I’ve developed an effective Exercise Habit.
through second stage of growth and scale their business. CEOs/Founders
and their leadership teams can establish an Execution Habit to prioritize,
deploy their resources effectively, and close their Execution Gap.

I’m the CEO of a software company. We’ve generated data from
over 600 emerging growth companies that have used our software.
We add that data to the experience of over 1000 advisors who
years. We’re convinced that sustainable Execution is the biggest
hurdle these companies must clear in order to break through the
granite barrier of second stage.
We need a different type of revolution today, this time for
Entrepreneurs of companies between 20 - t300 employees. We
call these individuals Economy Heroes (@economyheroes,
economyheroes.com) because they take the risks that change our
lives and generate over 85% of the jobs in this country. Economy
Heroes effectively lead their teams to prioritize and execute
effectively so that they can maintain growth and scale. There are
over 600,000 companies in this segment. Please read the Economy
Heroes Manifesto at the end of this eBook.

The leadership of most emerging growth companies try to execute
based on their previous level of activity. They count on “wishes”
some point, however, the levers that previously generated growth stop
working. The CEOs and core teams get trapped in the tyranny of the
urgent. Growth stalls and the most important priorities for the business
fall by the wayside.
A company’s leadership team requires a different level of thinking to
execute effectively and transition their business from adolescence to
adulthood. Doug Tatum describes in his best-selling book, No Man’s
Land, that all growing companies reach a stage where they become
too big to be small and too small to be big. These companies often
get stuck in the second stage of growth due to the crtical upgrades
to break through No Man’s Land. A sustainable Execution Habit frees
CEOs to spend the majority of their time doing what they do best. An
Execution Habit prevents companies from getting stuck and losing
ground in No Man’s Land.
“Success is actually a short
race; a sprint fueled by
discipline just long enough for
habit to kick in and take over.”
- Gary Keller, The ONE Thing

The keys to sustained strategy execution are simplicity
and predictability. Best selling author and CEO
predictability.” This 60 Day Strategy Sprint is a simple,
but powerful process quickly builds your inner circle’s
things done now - together.
EXECUTION SIMPLICITY

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THERE ARE 7 STEPS
in the strategy sprint to develop
your execution habit

Get
Radically
Objective
About the
Business
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Jim Collins described a paradigm in his landmark book,
Good to Great, that all successful leaders must embrace
on their journey to sustainable growth. He called it the
“Stockdale Paradox” in reference to the experiences of the
highest ranking POW in the Vietnam War, Admiral William
ability to maintain unwavering faith that you can and will
time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of
your current reality, whatever they might be.”

• Can all members of my leadership team (or inner circle) clearly articulate the
same clear and concise Value Proposition for our company?
customer segments?
• Can we quantify the cost to acquire a new customer?
• Am I (the CEO) free to do what I do best?
• Are the right people in the right key leadership positions?
• Do the existing leaders have success in the same role with a company at
least twice our company’s size?
• Are the company’s top 3 priorities clear and easy to translate into action?
• Does my inner circle have a clear plan for sustainable growth?
• Can my entire inner circle clearly articulate the company’s strategy?
• Does my entire inner circle agree with the company’s strategy?
• Is everyone in my company, especially my inner circle, held accountable to
performance?
• Do we have a culture of accountability vs. loyalty?
formance on new initiatves?
• Will my company make money at higher volumes?
You, and your inner circle, need to agree on what you
believe about the No Man’s Land issues. You and your
team can get radically objective and embrace the No
Man’s Land brutal facts about your company.
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS:

• Does my company have an economic model that accurately forecasts
end of the month?
• Does my company’s economic model effectively estimate future
performance based on current decisions?
• Does my company have adequate cash to operate the business and
fund future growth?
that risk(s)?
• Do the Founders of my company have an exit strategy?
• Does the Founders of my company agree on a time frame to exit?
Once you and your inner circle
possess a clear picture of your
company’s current condition on these
critical second-stage issues, you are
ready for the second step in your
Execution Habit.
2

Get Your
Team in Sync1
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The next steps in the Strategy Sprint involve creating an
execution plan for current year. Team misalignment
is the biggest obstacle to strategy execution. We’ve
documented that 92% of CEOs believe their teams
agree with and can clearly communicate their
strategy; while 2% of leadership teams can list the same
priorities.
Teams out of sync on strategy waste time, energy and
resources as the individual members plow ahead on
their interpretation of the company strategy without a
united focus. However, we’ve seen that teams aligned
and focused on accomplishing the same PRIMARY
Goal and the top priorities generate at least a 20%
increase in performance.
Almost all teams are out of sync on critical issues.
Although most CEOs are surprised at the degree of
misalignment, most of them acknowledge the problem.
They just don’t know how to identify where the team
is misaligned on critical growth issues (like those issues
represented in the questions above), or what steps they
should take to get the team in sync.

Team alignment can become a
competitive advantage for your company
because so few companies do it.
is to schedule a one-day workshop for
the team to identify and agree on your
company’s PRIMARY Goal, Priorities,
Action Points, and
non-operational Metrics.

PRIMARY
Goal for this
Year
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Last year we launched an Inbound Marketing strategy for
one of our channel partners. An Inbound Marketing engine
takes between 18- 24 months to build. I chose HubSpot as
the Inbound software platform to build our channel partner’s
Inbound web site. I asked Bryan Halligan, CEO and Founder
of HubSpot this question: “If I did one thing well in the next 12
months to build the best Inbound Marketing engine, what would
content.” I used Bryan’s suggestion to-
BUILD AN EXECUTION
STRATEGY AROUND A
PRIMARY GOAL
-to Create a Continuous Flow of Quality Content by 12.31.
My strategy included priorities, action points and metrics to
accomplish that PRIMARY Goal.

The PRIMARY Goal is the “one thing”,
or next big step that your inner circle
needs to accomplish by 12.31 of the
current year. It can be a traditional
providers. The PRIMARY Goal can also
their PRIMARY Goal as “Our New Product
on the Shelf by 12.31”; which meant their
new product will be available in Walmart
by the end of the year.
become the foundation of your team’s
Execution Habit. As I previously stated,
almost all leadership teams are out of
provides the “track” for your Strategy
your team to be on the same page
with company strategy. Studies reveal
that ripple effects occur throughout the
organization when a company’s inner
circle aligns around any worthy goal that
impacts the company’s performance.
These ripples improve operational
addition to increasing the bottom line.

For example, when Paul O’Neill took the helm as CEO of Alcoa
after several years of declining earnings, he made it clear that the
company would focus on one thing going forward: Plant Safety.
“
”
Charles Duhigg,
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
As a result of O’Neill’s strategic focus, Alcoa employees world-wide
aligned around Plant Safety for the next decade while the company

PRIMARY Goal Examples:
• 500 Platinum Memberships by 12.31
• 250 Systems Placed by 12.31
• Break Even by 12.31
• UberWidget on the Shelf by 12.31
• 5 Hospital Buying Groups as Clients by 12.31
• $12 Million in Capital Secured by 12.31
PRIMARY Goal Tips:
• Ask your team “What is the one thing we can do, that by doing it
everything else will be easier or uneccessary?”
• Make the PRIMARY Goal actionable and attach the year-end
completion date
• Answer this question in the PRIMARY Goal statement: “What is the X
to Y by when?”
• Help your team word it correctly, but make sure they like it,
embrace it, and own it

Choose
Your Right
Priorities,
Action Points,
and Metrics
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Priorities
Start by asking this question:
“What are the 2-3 things in the next 90 days that
will cause a 50% increase to accomplish our
PRIMARY Goal?”
• Capture Phase VI ASCD Contract
• Sell 30 Terminals in Q3
• Increase Margins on Current Product Line
• Secure $3 Million in Additional Cash
• Create an Accurate Financial Forecasting Model
• Hire the New COO
Strategy can be simple. Teams focus when they are responsible for a
handful of priorities with actionable points and deadlines. Priorities should
include those 2-3 (up to 5) actionable tasks that best contribute to the
team accomplishing this year’s PRIMARY goal. More than 5 priorities results
in no priorities. Normally the priorities last for at least 90 days. They don’t
often change within the quarter, unless something unexpected happens
with the company; for example, a market change or an unexpected
opportunity. The priorities must apply directly to the PRIMARY Goal, not
another objective.

Action Points
“What are the 3-5 next-step action points for this
priority?”
Action Point Examples:
• Publish the Merlot eBook by next Tuesday, March 7, owned by
Mick Thompson
• Secure presentation with ACME by March 14, owned by Tom
Sorenson
• Create plan to reduce costs on NewCo product line by March
7, owned by Susan Smith
• Close SimCo deal by March 17, owned by Pam Worthington
by March 18, owned by Nick Flagler
The time frame for action points usually spans between 1 week to
1 month; the shorter the better. Action points serve as the next-
steps “to do” list for each priority. Identify an “Owner” for each
action point from the inner circle, and specify a date the action
point will be completed. Action points can change from meeting
to meeting depending on the changing dynamics in the company
maneuverability. As soon as an action point is accomplished,
archive it and replace it with the action point; or delete and replace
the action point if it is no longer relevant.

Metrics
metrics (KPIs) that will best represent
performance on the priorities to accomplish the
PRIMARY Goal.”
Examples:
• Number of Platinum Memberships
• RMA Return Days
• Number of Systems Delivered
• Number Leads for Widget Product Line
• Percentage of Inventory Accuracy
percentages, etc, will provide a clear benchmark of the company’s
progress on your priorities and action points.

Adopt a
Strategy
Scoreboard
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Nothing drives the energy and enthusiasm for execution more
than winning. Your team needs a simple, but comprehensive
scoreboard for weekly strategy meetings so that they know
whether they are winning or losing. A scoreboard is essential to
a sustainable Execution Habit because it compels team action
and accountability on a regular basis. Your Scoreboard should
be a one page document, like the Inc. Navigator Strategy
Scoreboard, that you can easily update and edit. It should
document team alignment on the priorities and actions before
you enter your weekly meetings.

Your Scoreboard should include the following categories:
• The PRIMARY Goal for this year
• The top 3-5 priorities that will accomplish the PRIMARY Goal
• The top 3-5 next-step action points for each priority; including an
owner for that action point and an anticipated completion date
on the priorities
• A list of inner circle team members so you can choose who will
assume responsibility for each action point on the priorities
• The option to invite inner circle team members to vote on
misalignment on strategy and provides the catalyst to make
changes and get in sync.
The team can vote on the priorities with these questions:
• Is this at top 5 priority?
• Is this clear enough to guide action?
• Are we doing the right things and achieving the right results?
Away Home
3 7
8:45
Period 3

The team can vote on each action point with this question:
• Are we doing the right things to achieve the right results?
Voting results are valuable for:
• The initial Strategy Scoreboard retreat (see below) discussion
several priorities have been changed, or multiple action points have
been added
• A monthly ritual as part of the meeting strategy meeting rhythm
A one-day Strategy Scoreboard retreat will give your team the
opportunity to discuss and agree on the PRIMARY Goal, priorities,
action points and metrics. This one-day session will probably be the
most valuable day you will ever spend as a leadership team. You
will have strategic discussions in this meeting that you’ve never had
before. At the end of the day your Scoreboard will be set up and
you will be ready for your subsequent weekly Scoreboard meetings.

Schedule
a Meeting
Rhythm
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The inner circle team should establish a weekly rhythm to review
performance, report on company or market changes, and update
the Scoreboard as needed. These review sessions should not take
accustomed to meeting, a weekly ritual will be a change in behaviour
but remember you’re making the effort to develop a sustainable
Execution Habit that will produce huge ROI for your efforts.
S M T W T F S
M
E
E
T

Create Team
Accountability1
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Team accountability is rare, but it is attainable. A simple
dashboard that includes priorities, assigned action points
with deadlines, and metrics will provide the catalyst for team
interaction. Offering the team an opportunity to vote on the
priorities and action points can also fuel accountability. As I
said before, we’ve documented that 92% of CEOs believe their
teams agree with and can clearly communicate their strategy;
while 2% of leadership teams can list the same priorities. Team
accountability is rare because most CEOs don’t realize the
degree of their team’s misalignment. Companies entering No
Man’s Land must transition from a culture based on loyalty to a
performance based culture. Team accountability is a critical
component of that transition
-

The Secret Ingredient to Execution
There is a secret ingredient to successful execution. It’s an essential
above, to develop an Execution Habit. It’s BELIEF. The Inner Circle
team in order to execute effectively. Your inner circle members
sit at your table not only because they perform; they’re there
because they believe. They must believe in the “why” of your
product or service, and they
must believe in each other. If
they are not currently rowing
in the same direction on
strategy, and as I’ve stated
almost all teams aren’t in sync,
then creating an Execution
Habit with team
accountability will help them
get on the same page to get
the right things done. They
will learn how to participate
in the execution process
together. They will build
that eventually they’ll help
pave the path for each
other to accomplish the
PRIMARY Goal.

Adaptability
An Execution Habit equips your
team to strategically adapt to
changing conditions. Strategic
adaptation in business is similar
to the tactics of our military
elite. Our Special Forces utilize
the same strategic decision
around the world. The foundation
of the Special Forces strategy
is based on the team’s ability
to make a decision and
then quickly learn from their
unfolding circumstances, outside
information, and the evolving interaction with their environment.
By using this process the team adapts and learns to choose their
next move. In other words, they remain “agile”. The Wall Street
Journal described the need for a company to adapt:
Now, even though the economy is slowly picking up, those fresh
habits aren’t fading. “This downturn has changed the way we
will think about our business for many years to come,” says Steve
head of the North American management consulting practice
for Accenture Ltd., is even more blunt: “Strategy, as we knew it, is
dead,” he contends. “Corporate clients decided that increased
important than simply predicting the future.”
From: Strategic Plans Lose Favor, Wall Street Journal
Great companies have leadership teams that adapt and learn
from their decisions. They are able to keep their strategy simple
and remain focused on the top handful of priorities. They’ve
developed the habit to execute.

The Execution Catalyst
You’ve got a lonely job as the CEO/Founder of your company. The
weight of the entire business sits on your shoulders. Just as Tony Horton
accelerated the exercise habit serving as the catalyst for P90X, your
ability to develop a sustainable Execution Habit increases dramatically
when you have an experienced Execution Catalyst to support you and
your team through the 60 Day Sprint.

Traits of a Great
Execution
Catalyst
Perceptive - A great Execution
Catalyst has uncommon, common
sense. Your Catalyst should exhibit
the ability to ask the right questions
at the right time, clarify the reality
of your complex problems, and
suggest simple solutions. As Da Vinci
once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate
sophistication.”
Aggressive - Accountability can be as valuable as wisdom.
You need a Catalyst who can keep you and your team radically
objective about your business. A Catalyst keeps you focused on the
3-5 top KPIs so that you can make the right decisions, get your team
in sync, and execute effectively. Your Catalyst should also help you
identify what you, as the Founder, do best. A great Catalyst will help
you Play Your Truest Note more often.
Committed - you can’t trust a passive bystander to help
you and your company break through No Man’s Land. You want
someone who is “all in” on you, your value proposition, and the goal
to grow your business.

Experienced - your Catalyst should have proven success
working with CEOs of companies twice your size. Your issues and
gaps should be familiar territory. When it comes to developing an
Execution Habit, experience matters. Choose someone who’s been
there.
Responsive - although scheduled meetings are important,
minute phone call at the right time can make the difference
between the best and second best response to a critical issue during
your Strategy Sprint.

The First Step to Become an
Economy Hero
A sustainable Execution
Habit is, without question,
a competitive advantage
because so few teams
of emerging growth
companies have escaped
the tyranny of the urgent
long enough to make
alignment, accountability
and prioritization a routine.
Founders in No Man’s Land
struggle with the urgent more
than in any other stage of
corporate growth. They get
buried in the business to
the point where they lose
focus on the “why” of the
“what” they created. As
one Founder stated in the
Inc. Magazine article, The
Pschycological Price of
Entrepreneurship, “As CEO,
you have this self-image;
you’re the master of the
universe,” he says. “Then all of
a sudden, you’re not.”

The Founder and their team get stuck and too involved in
everything. Less than 10% of companies that reach No Man’s Land
survive it. You can beat those odds and become an Economy Hero
once you close your Execution Gap with a simple, but powerful
Execution Habit.
An Execution Habit:
• frees your company from the No Man’s Land trap
• adds value to you company
• creates new ways to help your clients
• makes your team’s capabilities more valuable
• makes execution and agility a competitive advantage
The Sprint to develop your habit will require focus, desire and
determination from every member of your inner circle. But the the
time and effort will be worth it. As I said, Execution is the biggest
hurdle you must clear in order to break through the granite barrier
of second stage. The Execution Habit takes the mystery out of
execution, just as Carl Daikeler took the mystery out of exercise
with P90X.
objective about your company. Contact us for a complimentary
custom report, used by over 600 emerging growth companies, that
will get your team objective and in sync on the critical No Man’s
Land issues.

CONTACT ME
BRENT@INCNAV.COMAT
OR
C A L L M E A T
407.448.9477
t o d a y f o r y o u r c o m p l i m e n t a r y r e p o r t

T H E E C O N O M Y H E R O E S M A N I F E S T O
THE FREEDOM
FIGHT FOR
ENTREPRENEURS

grasping the brass ring of freedom. They journeyed from all points to
pursue dreams and launch their own business. Our ancestors offered
every ounce of their innovation forged with an unyielding work ethic
to initiate a movement of what we now recognize as our nation’s
competitive advantage – our entrepreneurs. They were then and
remain today America’s Economy Heroes.
Big business can fail, we know that now. Corporate icons struggle
to remain in business. We depended on them, invested in them and
5,000 employees) provided only 2% of the jobs in this country.
Second stage companies fail too. In fact over 90% of emerging
growth companies don’t make it, even though the less than 10%
that do survive, and create sustained growth, generate over 80%
of employment and almost all innovation in this country. These
Founders take risk to advance their ideas and fuel our unique
cultural environment that enables entrepreneurs to march “North”
while every else is marching “South”. These Entrepreneurs are
not corporate “rock stars”. Their stories are not as legendary as
SouthWest, FedEx, or Walmart – yet. Economy Heroes are more
important now than any other time in our history. They need
attention, not bailouts.

What will turn the current economic tide? Our labor cost? Our
engineering? Our science? Wall Street and Washington can’t
move the needle. The market rises only to eventually plummet like
a millstone in open water. We watch the 24/7 news stations with
sweat streaming as we internalize the dramatic blow by blow anchor
blather. We fantasize the worst, and our political leaders react
with one “magic trick” after another; hoping something friendly will
appear and be embraced.
We must elevate awareness and provide support to our Economy
Heroes. All entrepreneurs eventually face “No Man’s Land” (a term
formed by Doug Tatum, author of No Man’s Land: Where Growing
Companies Fail). No Man’s Land is an inevitable “adolescent”
stage of corporate growth where most companies stall. Corporate
adolescence often produces agonizing battles between the habits
of the lonely entrepreneur and the immutable laws of growth. The
result is often confusion, frustration, stagnation, and loss of employee
morale.
Our heroes face huge obstacles; they require essential information,
accountability, capital, and political support to succeed. If they
thrive, our economy will survive. Like the courageous immigrants of
future. They are America’s competitive advantage. We must free
them to do what they do best. It’s that simple.

I F T H E Y T H R I V E
OUR ECONOMY
WILL SURVIVE

Economy heroes strategy sprint

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