At today’s EO Strategy Summit we planned the high-level goals for next year’s EO Atlanta chapter. This is the third time I’ve been through the full-day strategy summit planning session and each time the EO certified facilitators do an amazing job. Today’s event was no different.
One of the techniques they talked about today that I hadn’t seen before was the Business Architecture Stack. I’ve seen the individual elements of it but hadn’t seen it presented in this particular manner. The idea behind the stack is that it is a concise representation of the six most important overarching aspects of a business. Here’s information on the stack straight out of the EO workbook:
- Mission – What you want to do – your reason for “being.”
- Vision – Why you’re doing what you do – the big-picture goal: have to be able to “see it” in your mind’s eye.
- Core Values – Four or five beliefs you never compromised and in which you measured against.
- Positioning Statement – A one or two sentence description of how you do what you do and for whom (i.e. what markets).
- Value Proposition – One sentence that conveys to others the value you provide for your customers.
- Tagline – Quick, catchy statement or phrase that embodies who and what you are.
My recommendation is for all startups to go through this exercise within the first 12 months of their business and revisit it annually.
What else? What do you think of the business architecture stack?
David Cummings on Startups 
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