Early this month, I was giving a presentation to a room of business owners about EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). One of the business owners came up to me after the meeting and was giving me some kudos for the presentation. After he was done, he said, "You know there is one thing you should add to your presentation." I thought, "Ok, I guess he was just sugar coating his criticism." He pointed out that many of the businesses in the room had been around for a while and most likely were doing some of the things we talked about. "Parts and pieces," he said, as in parts and pieces of the Six Key Components of successful businesses. He admitted that they may not be implemented in the most effective way but that some of the pieces were probably there. For him, the value of EOS was how the system pulled everything together.

So, you want to get to a specific location - let's say Grand Island, Nebraska. To get there in the timeliest fashion you will need a specific tool - a map. Nowadays this map may come in other forms (GPS, your phone, print out from mapquest.com, etc.), but the fact remains you still need a map to get there. You need a map because you have never been there and you don't know the way. Now, think about where you want to take your company. Have you been there before?