What’s the Difference Between EOS™ vs. The Five Facets of Business™?

Several models exist to support small businesses in their quest to simplify and scale. The below comparative looks at the three leading small business operating systems you can apply to your business examining the pros and cons of each system. 

The 2 models: 

1. The Entrepreneurial Operating System™ (EOS, popularized by Gino Wickman’s book “Traction”) 
2. The Five Facets of Business™ (developed by Dave Newell)

EOS: Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) (Traction)

Pros of EOS

Simplicity and Clarity: EOS is renowned for its straightforward framework, making it particularly appealing for small businesses that might not have extensive resources for complex implementations. EOS gives companies a clear path to follow.

Holistic Approach: Covering six key components of any business (Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction), EOS encourages leaders to view their organization from multiple perspectives, ensuring no area is neglected.

Empowerment through Accountability: By establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations, EOS fosters an environment where everyone knows what they’re supposed to do. 

Cons of EOS

May Be Overly Prescriptive: For businesses that thrive on creativity and flexibility, the structured nature of EOS could feel constraining. It’s a bit like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole if the organization’s culture values flexibility over structure.

Requires Full Buy-In: Implementing EOS successfully requires full commitment from every level of the organization. This can be challenging, changing organizational culture and systems requires everyone to be on board, not just the leadership.

Overly Simple: While simple can be good, it can also be limiting in that the system will only get you so far. The framework provides a clear foundation to build from, but several elements of the system lack the nuance and evolved approach as an organization gets bigger and more complex. 

The Five Facets of Business (Dave Newell)

Pros of the Five Facets of Business

Leadership Behavior Focus: The framework includes leadership behaviors and leadership development that align with the system, including one-on-one  and team coaching with materials that support leadership development along with systems change. 

Systems Approach: 5F focuses on alignment, ensuring that the five major elements of your organization (culture, strategy, operations, story, and finance) are working together to elevate the effectiveness of the entire organization. This includes focusing on both the design of each of the five facets and tools to execute the design. The 5F effectively blends design and execution to increase effectiveness and business growth. 

Versatility: 5F offers a comprehensive assessment at the outset of any engagement, establishing a clear roadmap for focused implementation on key indicators for the business. The application of the framework is tailored to each individual business to address each businesses specific obstacles and opportunities. 

Cons of the Five Facets of Business

Complexity: Like Scaling Up, the 5F framework is flexible and adaptable but can be difficult to self-implement. Several tools and approaches from the framework can be done by leaders without support, but the framework is most effective when applied comprehensively. 

Change is Required: 5F often requires leaders to adapt their style to develop a systems approach to change. This requires leaders and their teams to be open to approaching their business in new ways, and some leaders resist this change. 

Time to Implement: 5F is not a quick-fix approach, and can take time to implement into an organization to achieve maximum effectiveness. While certain elements can be added quickly, a full implementation can take months to achieve. 

In summary, the choice between EOS, Scaling Up, or The Five Facets of Business™ should be guided by a company’s specific needs, culture, and growth stage. We suggest that leaders first clearly understand their organization’s vision and capacity for change, then choose the model that best aligns with these factors. Whether it’s the clarity and structure of EOS, the growth-focused flexibility of Scaling Up, or the comprehensive systems and behavior approach of The Five Facets of Business™, the key is to commit to the chosen system, ensuring it’s fully integrated into every aspect of the organization’s operations.