Why the Best Time to Fix Your Business is When It's Not Broken

Leo Falkenstein on Implementing EOS Proactively

Most founders install a business operating system like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) when their company is facing significant challenges. Leo Falkenstein, co-founder of Consume Media, took a different path. He initiated EOS implementation when his video production agency was performing well, driven by a gut feeling that his team could achieve even more predictable, scalable growth.

Falkenstein shares his 13-year journey, starting Consume Media from a college apartment, pivoting from entertainment projects to high-growth B2B technology clients, and growing the team to 13 full-time employees. His story provides a practical case study on adopting a structured operating framework proactively, focusing on vision, team buy-in, and a methodical rollout.

Key Insights from the Conversation

1. The Trigger: From Gut Feeling to Structured Vision Despite success, Falkenstein felt his team could achieve more. This feeling crystallized when exploring accountability frameworks. He realized that holding his team accountable required a clear, shared vision—something the company lacked formally, even after 13 years. Discovering EOS, particularly its emphasis on "Vision Shared By All," provided the missing piece. He recognized that defining where the company was going was the necessary first step before demanding higher accountability.

2. The Catalyst: Personal Life and Business Goals Converge While the initial idea for EOS stemmed from business intuition, a significant personal catalyst was the birth of Falkenstein's first child. This life event intensified his desire for more predictable systems within the business, enabling him to achieve better work-life integration ("make more, work less") without sacrificing growth. This highlights how personal founder goals often drive the adoption of scalable business structures.

3. The Rollout Strategy: Slow, Steady, and Team-Led Consume Media chose to self-implement EOS, leveraging their existing 90-minute Friday leadership meetings.

• Phased Introduction: Instead of a top-down mandate, Falkenstein introduced the concept, shared the book "Traction," and dedicated successive weekly meetings to exploring each EOS component (Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, Traction).

• Leadership Buy-In First: This methodical, chapter-by-chapter approach over roughly eight weeks allowed the leadership team to understand, practice, and gain buy-in before presenting it to the wider company.

• Leveraging Existing Tools: EOS was integrated into ClickUp, the project management tool the team already used daily. Falkenstein found free EOS templates for ClickUp, making adoption seamless by putting a new process into an existing system, reducing friction.

4. The Power of the "Issues" Component Falkenstein highlights the "Issues" component and the weekly Level 10 Meeting (L10) as perhaps the most impactful element of EOS. Creating a dedicated forum to identify, discuss, and solve problems weekly prevents issues from festering. The structured process assigns accountability for solutions ("To-Dos"), which are reviewed in the following meeting, creating a powerful cadence of resolution and progress.

5. Defining Roles: Visionary and Integrator Clarity EOS, particularly through the concepts in the book "Rocket Fuel," helped Falkenstein and his co-founder, Michael, clarify their natural roles. Falkenstein identified strongly with the Visionary role (big ideas, future focus), while Michael aligned with the Integrator (execution, operations). This clarity didn't necessarily change their day-to-day tasks immediately (they still wear multiple hats) but provided a framework for understanding their complementary strengths and potential friction points, improving their partnership dynamic.

6. Self-Implementing vs. Using an Implementer For Consume Media (at 13 people), self-implementing worked well. It allowed them to move slowly, ensure deep team understanding, and feel collective ownership ("Our fingerprints on everything"). Falkenstein notes this might be harder for larger companies. A key factor in their success was implementing EOS during a period of stability ("when things are going well"), making the team more receptive to change, rather than during a crisis.

7. Key Advice: Take it Slow and Trust the Process Falkenstein's primary advice for other founders considering EOS is to take it slow. Rushing the implementation risks overwhelming the team and hindering buy-in. A gradual, methodical approach allows people to understand the "why," practice the tools, and integrate the system organically. Getting team buy-in is paramount; without it, even the best system will falter.