Frameworks / Hitting the Ceiling
Every growing company hits the ceiling.
Growth flattens, the team works harder for less, and everything still runs through you. Nothing is broken. The business has outgrown the way it's run.
From the book Traction by Gino Wickman (2007)
›Show the ceiling
Growth has flattened. The team works harder, things slip through the cracks, and decisions wait on a few people. That's the ceiling.
The idea
In brief.
In Traction, Gino Wickman describes a pattern every owner eventually runs into. The company grows, and then it stalls. Sales flatten. Things fall through the cracks. The leadership team is busier than ever, and the owner is the bottleneck for half of it.
That's the ceiling. A bad market or lazy people didn't cause it. Complexity did: the business got bigger, but the way it's led stayed the same.
Wickman's answer is five leadership abilities: simplify, delegate, predict, systemize and structure. Get better at all five and you break through. Keep growing and you'll meet the next ceiling, and the same five abilities get you through that one too.
The way through
Five leadership abilities.
01
Simplify
Growth piles on products, rules and exceptions. Strip it back to one clear vision, a few core values and a handful of priorities everyone can repeat.
02
Delegate
You can't do everything and grow at the same time. Hand off the work someone else can own, and spend your time on what only you can do.
03
Predict
Look ahead on two clocks. Long term: a plan for the year and the next 90 days. Short term: solve issues every week, before they turn into fires.
04
Systemize
Name the handful of core processes that make the business run, write them down simply and get everyone following them. Consistency is what scales.
05
Structure
Build the organization for the company you're becoming, with one clear owner for every function and the right person in every seat.
- Find the ceilingWe pin down where growth is stalling and what's causing it, in your words, not mine.
- Score the five abilitiesYour leadership team rates itself honestly on each one. The lowest score is usually where we start.
- Build the toolsEOS® gives each ability a practical tool: a clear vision, an accountability structure, 90-day priorities, a weekly scorecard and a meeting that solves issues.
- Break through, then repeatEvery quarter we check which ability is slipping. The next ceiling is coming, and the team learns to see it early.
Try this
Questions to ask your team.
- Has growth flattened even though everyone is working harder?
- How many decisions this week needed you personally?
- Could a new hire learn our core processes from something written down?
- Can everyone name this quarter's top three priorities?
- Does every major function have one clear owner?
Related insights
More frameworks
- The Ideal Team PlayerHumble, hungry and smart
- First, Break All the RulesThe 12-level climb to a great workplace
- The Five DysfunctionsFrom trust to results
- OutgrowProactive sales growth, every week
- The Core Values IndexBuilder, Merchant, Innovator, Banker
- Man's Search for MeaningViktor Frankl's three sources of meaning
Next step
Feel the ceiling? Let's find the crack.
A free 30-minute call about where growth is stalling and which of the five abilities would move it first.
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