We have filled out our V/TO and we look at it occasionally, but it still feels like a static strategic plan rather than a daily operational compass. How do we embed the V/TO into our actual company culture so every employee lives it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A V/TO® that lives in a digital folder is just an expensive strategic plan. To make the Vision/Traction Organizer® a driving force, you must push it down from the leadership conference room into the daily vocabulary of your entire company.

Start by sharing the V/TO® with the entire staff during a quarterly state of the company meeting. Do not just read the slides. Explain the history, clarify the Core Values, and explain exactly how their daily work connects to the Three-Year Picture™ and One-Year Plan. Every employee needs to understand where the company is going and how they fit into that journey.

Next, integrate the V/TO® into your hiring, onboarding, and review processes. When evaluating prospective hires, use the Core Values defined in your V/TO® to test for cultural fit. During onboarding, walk every new hire through the document so they understand the company direction from day one.

Finally, use the V/TO® to guide quarterly planning at every level. When departmental teams set their quarterly Rocks, they must justify how their goals directly support the priorities listed in the V/TO®. By making the V/TO® the ultimate filter for resources and focus, it ceases to be a static document and becomes the operational operating system of the business.