We have heard that companies often experience an operational dip or increased friction during their first ninety days of EOS. What causes this and how do we manage it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The initial friction in your first ninety days is entirely normal. It is caused by the sudden shift from a culture of loose, informal agreements to one of absolute, transparent accountability. When you introduce a Scorecard, define clear seats on the Accountability Chart, and run weekly Level 10 Meeting™s, there is nowhere left to hide.

This transparency often triggers Resistance, the psychological friction Steven Pressfield writes about. Some team members will push back because they feel micromanaged, while others will struggle with the discipline of reporting weekly metrics. You might also discover that a long-term executive does not GWC™ their seat, which is a painful realization.

To manage this transition, you must lean into the process rather than backing off. Use identity-driven language to frame these changes not as restrictive rules, but as the standard of who you are as an organization. Instead of asking people to track numbers, talk about being an owner of their metrics.

This dip is simply the pain of your organization shedding its old, reactive habits. Once your team adjusts to the rhythm and experiences the clarity of true accountability, the friction subsides and performance accelerates.