What we can learn from the Entrepreneurial Operating System model
When I first heard about the Business Operating System (BOS), then the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) later, and being a “tech guy”, it immediately lured me to learn more. I just thought: This makes sense, an Operating System (OS) to run any business.
While doing some research about it and talking to industry experts, I realized how cool it would be to have a Product Operating System. An OS that can be used by organizations and product teams to power all their initiatives.
But first things first, what is EOS?
Let’s Explore EOS
Everyone is familiar with Operating Systems (OS) be it in your laptops, tablets, smartphones, or any other electronic device, for that matter.
Operating Systems power computer software and software development. Without an operating system, every application would need to include its own UI, as well as the comprehensive code needed to handle all low-level functionality of the underlying computer, such as disk storage, network interfaces, and so on. Considering the vast array of underlying hardware available, this would vastly bloat the size of every application and make software development impractical.
In other words, the primary purpose of an Operating System is to enable applications to interact with the computer's hardware and to manage a system’s hardware and software resources. Without it, you won’t able to efficiently use your laptop or any other device.
That being said, operating any business is risky without a solid game plan and playbook that can help businesses strategize, set goals, and make data-driven decisions to put any business in the right direction.
What is the Entrepreneurial Operating System model?
The Entrepreneurial Operating System is a set of tools, processes, and methods used to deal with the leadership and management of an organization and help that organization get to the next level.
The moment any entrepreneur starts a business and starts operating it, an Operating System is created as a set of processes, goals, and visions.
Business can either create their own or, adapt an existing design system (sometimes even create a mashup).
EOS Six Key Components
There are six key components that every small or big business, in any industry, must manage to be a great business.
Vision
Make sure you share a clear vision so everyone in the organization is 100% on the same page with where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.
People
Building a great team with a great culture is as important as the vision. After all, without the right team, your vision is just a dream. Focus on getting great people, top to bottom so you can achieve your vision.
Data
This means cutting through all the feelings, personalities, opinions, and egos and boiling your organization down to a handful of objective numbers that give you an absolute pulse on where things are.
Issues
Strengthening this component means becoming great at solving problems throughout the organization — setting them up, knocking them down, and making them go away forever.
Process
This is the secret ingredient in your organization. This means “systemizing” your business by identifying and documenting the core processes that define the way to run your business. Create consistency and enable scalability by creating the essential processes and getting everyone to follow them.
Traction
Do you have a grip on your business or does your business have a grip on you? If all the above is in place and you get better at execution, you will be setting the ground to create taking the vision down to the ground, and making it real.
In his book, Traction, Gino Wickman, the founder of EOS explains why it is important to get a grip on the key elements of your business and then consistently execute on the fundamentals.
How to apply the EOS Principles to Product Management?
I am sure I am not the first one to explore how to apply EOS to Product Management and I must say that this Business Operating System model did inspire me to create an open source Product Management Operating System.
I am currently working on creating a simpler Product Playbook with a business focus and I didn’t want to just add one more to the already saturated Product market. Hence taking the EOS model and combining it with what Product people need, magic can happen.
Similarities between the EOS Principles and Product Management
Checking the key components one by one, any product manager can instantly associate them with its day-by-day.
In product management, we must have a Product Vision that we complement with a Product Strategy and a Product Roadmap.
In order to achieve that vision, the first factor to keep in mind is People, us! We are the blood of any organization. We need each other to deliver the roadmap.
Some product managers, use Data for everything we do. Others, ignore it almost completely and use their experience and gut instinct to make decisions, and others well… we use both.
A big part of a product manager’s unplanned work can be spent on problem-solving and Issue resolution.
Frameworks and Processes are part of our daily work. We even create new ones based on the gaps and business needs.
Only when everything above is aligned, we start getting some good traction to scale and deliver magic.
Product Management Operating System
As Subject Matter Experts, we all strive to bring value to our communities.
Product Management has all the ingredients needed to create an actual OS to be followed and used by all the product organizations.
If you want to collaborate on creating THE opensource Product Management Operating System then please, reach out to me, and let’s keep growing.
Alexander Graham Bell said once “Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds”.
Ping me at mehdi.nadifi@gmail.com
