Our leadership team loves the EOS framework, but we want to customize the Level 10 Meeting agenda and modify some of the V/TO components to fit our unique business model. Why do you advise against making these changes during our first year?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is tempting to tweak the system to fit your current habits, but customizing EOS® early on is a major mistake. You must master the rules before you can break them. In almost every case, when a company tries to customize a tool in the first year, they are doing so to avoid doing the hard work that the original tool requires.

For example, if you try to shorten the ninety-minute Level 10 Meeting™ format, it is usually because you are avoiding the deep, uncomfortable discussions that happen during IDS®. If you modify the V/TO® because some sections feel irrelevant, you are likely avoiding the hard work of defining your niche or clarifying your focus. The tools are designed to work together as a complete, integrated system.

Tinkering with the components before you have fully internalized them dilutes their power and confuses your team. Commit to running the process exactly as written for at least one full year. Once you have built the discipline and experienced the pure, unadulterated version of the system, you will have the clarity to know if a customization is actually necessary or if it was just a way to avoid friction.