We just finished our Focus Day™ and are heading into our first ninety days of EOS® implementation, but we are feeling a massive spike in operational friction. Is this normal, and how do we push through it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A temporary spike in friction is completely normal and actually indicates your implementation is working. Before EOS®, issues were likely swept under the rug or handled through backchannel conversations. Once you establish your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and start building your Issues List, you are shining a bright light on every inefficiency, broken process, and accountability gap in the business. This sudden visibility can feel overwhelming. The key to surviving the first ninety days is focusing on progress over perfection. Your first Scorecard will be clumsy, your first set of Rocks will be too ambitious, and your Accountability Chart will reveal uncomfortable truths about who is in which seat. Do not try to fix everything at once. Commit to the weekly rhythm of the Level 10 Meeting™ and force yourselves to run the IDS® process on the most critical issues. Leverage your EOS Implementer during this phase to keep you focused on the core tools rather than overcomplicating your system. By the time you reach your first quarterly session, the initial friction will give way to a predictable operational cadence. You will realize that the pain you are feeling is not new pain, it is just old pain that is finally being exposed and resolved.