EOS is powerful. The framework works. I've implemented it successfully across six companies, driving two of those implementations for four years each. But through that experience, I discovered something critical.
The companies that got the most out of EOS weren't the ones who followed the playbook most precisely. They were the ones who understood what was actually breaking inside their operations before they started layering on structure.
Most operational frameworks start from the outside in. They give you tools, meetings, scorecards, and rocks. They assume that if you install the right system, the right behaviors will follow.
Sometimes that works. But often, you end up with a company that's going through the motions. The L10s happen but don't solve anything. The scorecards exist but nobody trusts the numbers. The rocks get set but mysteriously never get done.
The structure is there, but the dysfunction underneath is still running the show.
In my years of implementation work, I started paying attention to what happened before the EOS tools went in. The companies that thrived had usually done some hard internal work first. They'd confronted the real issues: the founder who couldn't let go, the leadership team that didn't trust each other, the incentives that were quietly working against the stated goals.
The ones that struggled had skipped that step. They wanted the framework to fix problems that the framework wasn't designed to fix.
That's why I developed what I call the Inside-Out Growth Method. It's not a replacement for EOS. It's what happens before, during, and alongside it.
The idea is simple: before you build structure, you need to understand what's actually broken. Not what's annoying. Not what's urgent. What's actually causing the pain.
Then you fix that. Properly. Before you start scaling.
The three phases look like this: Pressure Analysis, where we look at where things break when the heat turns up, not just what annoys you on a Tuesday. Foundation Rebuild, where we fix what's actually broken before scaling makes everything worse. And Reinforced Expansion, where you're ready to grow with structure that gets stronger under pressure.
This approach works because it respects the reality of how organizations actually change. You can't install accountability into a culture that rewards finger-pointing. You can't create clarity when the founder is still making every decision. You can't scale systems that were held together with duct tape and good intentions.
You have to go inside first. Find what's really happening. Then build out from there.
That's the work I do now. And it's why the results stick.