Our V/TO® is filled out, but during our weekly debates, we still make decisions based on short term opportunities rather than our core focus. How do we force the leadership team to actively use the V/TO® as a daily operating filter?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A V/TO® that only gets reviewed once a quarter is just a piece of paper. To turn it into an active operational filter, you must integrate its core elements directly into your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and your decision-making frameworks.

The first step is to use your Core Values and Core Focus as a strict veto during the weekly IDS® portion of your meeting. Whenever a new opportunity, project, or operational problem is brought to the table, the very first question asked must be whether this matches our Core Focus. If the answer is no, it is immediately tabled or discarded.

You should also establish these rules of behavior:
- Review your 1-Year Plan and your quarterly Rocks at the start of every quarterly session to verify if they still align with your 10-Year Target.
- Require every leadership team member to explicitly state how any proposed major initiative supports the current three-year picture.
- Ensure your quarterly Rocks are directly derived from the gaps between your current state and your 1-Year Plan.

By forcing the team to run every issue through this filter, you transition the V/TO® from a static strategic document into the actual rules of behavior for your business. Over time, the leadership team will instinctively stop bringing up shiny opportunities that do not fit your core long-term direction.