I wrote my first business plan in business school.
Then I spent years helping companies implement the Rockefeller Habits. That work became the systematic process I used to start Chief Outsiders in 2009 and introduce "Fractional CMO" to the market.
The process worked. The firm grew to 2,000+ clients. I moved on after the first year.
The Same Root
Around the same time, Gino Wickman published Traction. EOS was born.
Both systems — Wickman's and Verne Harnish's before him — trace back to the same root: Stephen Covey's jar metaphor from 1994. Repurposed for business planning, then repurposed again for entrepreneurial companies.
I've run on these systems. I've helped companies implement them. They're good.
For teams.
"Every operating system ever built for business assumed you had a leadership team in a room."
The Gap Nobody Named
EOS needs 6-10 people. Rockefeller Habits needs an integrator. The whole accountability structure falls apart the moment you remove the team.
Independent professionals have been duct-taping team systems to a one-person context for years. Borrowing vocabulary that was never theirs. Running quarterly Rocks reviews with no one in the room.
What I'm Building
For six months I've been building the operating system that was always missing.
Not a tool marketplace. Not a community with a better Slack setup. An actual operating system designed from day one for one experienced professional running a practice they own entirely.
One of today's decisions: replace "Rocks" with "Headings."
"There are no jars on a beach."
Your Next Move
I'm building the BEACH System in the open. If you're running a practice of one and tired of borrowing frameworks that were never built for you, follow the build.
Get it as it ships: theretern.com/newsletter
The work is serious. The life doesn't have to be.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tee time to keep.
Kirk Coburn is the founder of The ReTern and category creator of the fractional executive movement. He introduced the term "Fractional CMO" to the market in 2009 when he co-founded Chief Outsiders, which has since served 2,000+ clients. When he's not helping corporate refugees build fractional practices, he's usually on the golf course by 2 PM.
