This is Local Legends — a deep dive into the craft of building enduring small businesses. 🏆

Here, we share insights on constructing a business that's not just built for the short term, but soulfully crafted to withstand the test of time — and why that matters if you want to make an impact in your own entrepreneurial journey.

In today’s post, I pull back the curtain on Decada’s operating cadence and unpack some critical concepts that can help streamline your organization.

I'm passionate about today’s topic because a well-crafted operating cadence simplifies everything — it enhances information flow, facilitates growth, and aligns daily operations with your overarching vision.

Let’s dive into how to nail your operating cadence.

- Chase Murdock

IN TODAY’S POST:

As each new year rolls in, my Chief of Staff and I engage in an essential exercise: fine-tuning Decada Group’s operating cadence — the rhythmic way we connect with our leaders across our portfolio of companies.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent many hours working to hone our meetings and the way we drive alignment with our leadership teams. Our companies have grown and evolved, which requires adjustments to meet the new needs of the business.

Now that I’m in that headspace, I want to elaborate on some thoughts that have developed as we’ve overhauled our meetings. Let’s dive in.

Nailing Your Operating Cadence

An operating cadence is the heartbeat of your business, akin to the operating system on a computer. It's the foundational backbone that manages the flow of activities and processes — the meetings, the internal customs, and the traditions that set the tone for how you operate.

Often, the cadence within organizations emerges by default rather than by design. It's common to see rhythms that are merely convenient, sometimes erratic, or lack the consistency needed to truly be effective.

As a business scales, the leap from a small, tight-knit team to a more structured organization brings a new web of complexities. How do you ensure everyone is rowing in the same direction? What are the highest priorities? Who calls which shots? How do we keep score?

The operator’s job is to navigate all of this as the organization grows…all while preserving the organization’s harmony and efficiency. This is where your operating cadence is is critical.

It synchronizes daily tasks and weekly projects, aligning them with the your long-term goals as a business owner.

Your operating rhythm is what keeps the train on the tracks and dictates the organization's tempo towards achieving its goals. As we explore various approaches to establishing an operating cadence, let's first delve into a widely adopted framework: EOS.

A Model for Inspiration: Traction’s EOS

For those new to the concept of setting an operating cadence, "Traction" by Gino Wickman should be your first stop. While I'm not an outright EOS evangelist and we don't adopt it wholesale at Decada, its principles have inspired and informed many aspects of how we run our companies. 

The book introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a comprehensive framework designed to help businesses craft an intentional, pre-defined operating rhythm. 

EOS is about bridging the gap between your grand vision and the everyday tactics, complete with structured meeting templates, vision-setting exercises, and a unified language to align your team. Here are the six pillars of EOS:

• Vision: How to get clear on where your company is going, setting the North Star of the rest of your operating rhythm. 

• People: Ways to identify whether you have the right people in the right seats. 

• Data: A critical ingredient to ensuring you have a clear pulse on the data, metrics, and objectives critical for staying on track. 

• Issues: A structured methodology for identifying, discussing, and solving problems, ensuring that obstacles don’t impede the flow of operations. 

• Process: Solidifies the way work is done, embedding consistency and efficiency into the operating rhythm, making execution seamless and scalable. 

• Traction: Embodies the rhythm of execution itself and how you translate your vision to actionable steps. 

When I first read Traction years ago I underestimated the significance of deliberate practice in these areas. The prescribed meeting structures and agendas felt rigid. But, over time, I’ve used it as inspiration for shaping and improving our own style of EOS at Decada, which today makes up our operating rhythm.

There’s something to be said about learning from a model that’s used by thousands of companies. From a friend in Colorado who acquired an electrical contractor and implemented EOS: 

Organizational “Clock Speed”

Sriram Krishnan of Andreesan Horowitz posted this below tweet about what he calls “Organizational Clock Speed.” I love it — it puts to words something I’ve talked about for a while and a major differentiator I see between good and great operators. 

Decada's Meeting Rhythm

Because Decada owns and operates multiple companies, it’s required a deliberate approach to how we interact with operators, leadership, and those who run the day-to-day of our businesses.