The Shared Experience of a One-Page Strategic Plan & Scaling Up
At a certain point, companies need better tools to manage their growth and adopt some sort of management system. Otherwise, it just gets too messy when there’s so much going on.
In the third of our four-part series of blogs about the growth of CDN Controls, CEO/co-founder Dean Fraser talks about how their choice of the Scaling Up framework and how it made all the difference.
Fraser admits that, in the early days of their company, he and his partner used to hold their cards pretty close.
But, as they continued to grow to solve more problems for their clients, and took on bigger projects, they needed to scale rapidly.
So, they reached out to Lawrence & Co. to build a cohesive, highly effective growth strategy and provide the perspective and external insight needed to unleash CDN’s growth to its full potential.
“I was at a point where I could feel that the organization, as a whole,
could learn from a coach, and that would elevate us.”
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- CEO Dean Fraser
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Accountability of the One-Page Strategic Plan
The first step was the creation of a One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP), the core tool of Scaling Up 2.0, to clarify their goals.
It’s the best tool we’ve found to succinctly and sustainably focus on what matters most, and:
- To align the executive team and, ideally, the entire company around a long-term vision
- To make sure that you accomplish what is needed to enhance your competitive advantage, operational excellence and growth
- To be clear about what needs to be executed, aligned with your strategy, on an annual and quarterly basis to achieve growth targets and become more capable.
“If everyone isn’t pulling on the same rope,” says Fraser, “we can’t get there. It won’t work. We need everybody working together as a team, functioning well and doing what they say they’re going to do. It’s huge. There are no excuses. People know because their commitments are so clear.” Frasers talk about the OPSP here.
A Framework for Growth
After implementing the Scaling Up framework, the benefits were immediate.
“It was a springboard for us, says Fraser. “Once you share everything (with the team), others can see the vision and buy in…and everything funneled to a common goal.
With the team dialled in, they could choose their own goals (called Rocks in the Scaling Up Methodology) and KPIs and follow a weekly/monthly/annual cadence to hit those targets.
“It kept us on track. Before, it was kind of pie in the sky. Even though we were still growing and doing amazing things, we didn’t have the road map laid out to get us where we wanted to be. It’s awesome.” Fraser talks about the benefits of Scaling Up here, and implementing Scaling Up below.
Want to hear more? Here is the link to our recent CDN Case Study and watch the full interview with Fraser below.
Other Blogs
- Benefits of The One-Page Strategic Plan: Simplicity Scales & Focus Drives Results
- Setting Stretch Targets and How They Can Backfire
- Learn From Others & Set the Stage for Success
- Let the Right Numbers Tell the Story
Older Podcasts
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