Scaling Up Terms Glossary

Familiarize yourself with Scaling Up terms.

A

Accountability Chart

FACe (Function Accountability Chart): Ensures each major business function is owned by an A Player.
PACe (Process Accountability Chart): Identifies the critical business processes and assigns clear ownership.

A Player

The top 10% of talent in your industry. If you wouldn’t enthusiastically rehire someone, they’re not an A Player.

A Potential

A high-upside talent hired or promoted into a bigger role—usually from a more junior industry or position—who has already delivered A-level results in a prior seat. As the hiring manager, it’s your job to ensure your company provides the playbooks, systems, and coaching needed for this person to scale into a full A Player on your larger stage.

B

B Player

A competent but not exceptional employee. They meet expectations but rarely exceed them.

Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)

A 10-25 year visionary goal that aligns and inspires the entire organization.

C

CARTS

The acronym CARTS stands for:

Coachability, Accountability, Results, Tenacity, Smarts.

Cash Acceleration Strategy (CASh)

A Cash Acceleration Strategy (CASh) is a structured approach to shortening the Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC)—the time it takes for a dollar spent to turn into cash received.

Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC)

The time it takes for a dollar spent to become revenue. Shorten it, and you’ll never run out of cash.

Core Purpose

The fundamental reason your company exists, beyond making money.

Core Values

The non-negotiable guiding principles that shape decision-making and culture.

C Player

A low performer who consistently fails to meet expectations. C Players are toxic to an organization because they require constant management, create drama, and reduce productivity.

D

Daily Huddle

A powerful 8-minute meeting to ensure alignment and execution without drama.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Using KPIs and real-time metrics to drive business decisions.

E

Execution

One of the Four Decisions™, focused on operational discipline, meeting rhythms, and eliminating inefficiencies.

F

Four Decisions™

The Four Decisions™ framework is the foundation of Scaling Up, focusing on the four critical areas that determine business success or failure:

People – Do you have the right team, made up of A Players?
Strategy – Is your strategy clear, differentiated, and driving sustainable growth?
Execution – Are you consistently hitting goals without wasted effort or drama?
Cash – Do you have enough liquidity to fuel growth without financial strain?

Function Accountability Chart (FACe)

Ensures that every business function has an A Player in charge.

G

Growth Flywheel

A framework that keeps momentum and scaling predictable by optimizing People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash.

H

Huddle (Daily Huddle)

A short, structured daily meeting to maintain alignment, track progress, and remove bottlenecks. This is part of the Meeting Rhythms in Scaling Up.

Healthy Team

One of the Rockefeller Habits, which emphasizes building a leadership team that is functional, cohesive, and aligned.

I

Investing in People

A key principle in Scaling Up, focusing on hiring, developing, and retaining A Players to drive growth.

Industry Differentiation

Scaling Up emphasizes the importance of standing out in your market through unique value propositions.

Indicators (KPIs)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are crucial for tracking company performance and execution.

J

Job Scorecard

A concept used in Scaling Up that aligns with Topgrading, ensuring the right people are hired for the right roles.

K

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Critical metrics that track progress, efficiency, and profitability.

L

Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER)

A metric discussed in Scaling Up to measure the efficiency of labor costs in generating revenue.

Leadership Development

A focus in Scaling Up on training leaders to effectively manage growth and execute the strategy.

Long-Term Strategic Priorities

Part of the One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP), defining key goals for 3–5 years.

M

Meeting Rhythms

A structured cadence of meetings to keep everyone aligned:

Annual – Long-term strategy.
Quarterly – Rock-setting.
Monthly – Big issues.
Weekly – Progress checks.
Daily – Quick alignment.

N

Net Income (Execution Concept in Scaling Up)

Definition:

The bottom-line profit of a business after all expenses, taxes, and costs have been deducted from revenue.
A key financial KPI in Scaling Up that reflects operational efficiency and execution effectiveness.
Multiplying net income by a multiple of earnings provides the strategic valuation of a business, making it a critical factor in exit planning and investor attractiveness.

Application in Scaling Up Execution:

Tied to Execution Quality – Strong execution leads to higher revenue efficiency and cost control, improving net income.
Cash Flow Health – Sustained net income ensures a healthy financial foundation for scaling.
Decision-Making Metric – Guides resource allocation, investment decisions, and strategic planning.
Efficiency Benchmark – Signals whether the company is scaling profitably or just growing revenue.
Valuation Driver – Investors and buyers use earnings multiples (EBITDA or net income) to determine the business’s worth in an acquisition or sale.

Scaling Up businesses focus on growing net income, not just revenue, ensuring sustainable, profitable scaling and maximizing valuation potential.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Definition: A customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is a critical component of Scaling Up as it helps businesses assess customer satisfaction and predict future growth.

Formula: NPS=%Promoters−%Detractors where:

Promoters (score 9-10): Loyal customers who will refer others.
Passives (score 7-8): Satisfied but not enthusiastic customers.
Detractors (score 0-6): Unhappy customers who may damage brand reputation.

To calculate NPS:

Survey your customers by asking:
“On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?”
Classify the responses into Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), and Detractors (0-6).
Compute the percentage of Promoters and Detractors.
Subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters to get the NPS score, which can range from -100 to +100.

Importance in Scaling Up: Companies with a high NPS tend to experience faster growth due to strong word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.

O

Our Famous One Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)

Your entire company strategy on one page—BHAG, core values, differentiation, and execution.

P

Playbooks (Execution Concept in Scaling Up)

Definition:

A structured, documented guide outlining the best practices, processes, and workflows for consistent execution across teams.
Ensures clarity, repeatability, and efficiency in how key business functions operate.
With Playbooks, you coach, not manage—focusing on guiding execution rather than micromanaging.

Application in Scaling Up Execution:

Standardization – Captures the most effective way to execute tasks and projects.
Training & Onboarding – Helps new employees ramp up quickly with clear guidelines.
Accountability – Assigns who owns what in execution.
Coaching vs. Managing – Teams refer to Playbooks for direction, reducing the need for constant oversight.
Continuous Improvement – Updates as execution evolves to improve efficiency.

Playbooks replace guesswork with proven execution strategies, ensuring scalable, high-performance growth while enabling leaders to coach for success instead of managing details.

Power of One

A financial tool that shows how small tweaks to key financial levers can double profits and cash flow.

Priorities

Every team and individual should have 3-5 clear priorities every quarter.

Process Accountability Chart (PACe)

Defines the critical processes that drive results. Ensures clear ownership and zero bottlenecks.

Profit per X

Your primary economic driver—a simple metric that determines the scalability of your business.

Q

Quarterly Rocks

Your most important focus areas for the next 90 days. No more than 3-5 per quarter.

R

Rockefeller Habits™

A 10-step execution framework to scale efficiently and eliminate chaos.

S

Scaling Up Scoreboard

A real-time SaaS platform that tracks priorities, KPIs, and execution progress.

Strategic Thinking

A disciplined framework for competitive positioning and long-term vision.

Strategy

One of the Four Decisions™, focused on creating a category-dominating, differentiated strategy.

T

Talent Density

The concentration of A Players in your company. More A Players = faster scaling.

The Seven Strata of Strategy

A framework ensuring a differentiated, scalable strategy:

Core Values
Core Purpose
Brand Promise
Brand Promise Guarantee
The Sandbox (your market focus)
Your X-Factor
Profit per X.

U

Unicorn (Scaling Up Context)

Business Valuation Definition

A unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at $1 billion or more. The term was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 to represent the rarity of such high-growth companies.
These companies achieve rapid scaling through disruptive innovation, aggressive growth strategies, and effective execution of the Scaling Up principles: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash.
Examples: SpaceX, Stripe, Canva, and OpenAI (before going public or further investment rounds).

Talent & Hiring Context in Scaling Up

A Unicorn is an A Player who delivers exceptional value for their compensation and is a flawless fit for your Performance Profile—where interests, skills, knowledge, and talents align so well, everything just clicks.

V

Valuation Multiplier

Why do some companies sell for 3X revenue, while others get 15X? The difference: A Players, a killer strategy, execution mastery, and a cash machine.

W

Who, What, When (WWW)

Definition: A simple but powerful accountability tool in the Scaling Up framework that ensures clarity in execution.
Purpose: Helps teams assign responsibility and set clear deadlines for every strategic priority.
Breakdown:

Who: The person responsible for delivering a task or outcome.
What: The specific task or action item to be completed.
When: The deadline or expected completion date.

Why It Matters in Scaling Up:

Ensures ownership and follow-through on strategic initiatives.
Prevents confusion by clearly defining roles.
Keeps execution aligned with quarterly and annual goals.

Application in Meetings:

Often used in weekly and quarterly strategy meetings.
Can be documented in the One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP) to drive execution.

This simple WWW framework increases team alignment, improves execution speed, and drives accountability—key principles in Scaling Up.

X

X-Factor

A 10X competitive advantage that makes you untouchable in your market.

Y

Yellow Flags in Execution: Priorities & KPIs

Priorities – Yellow Flags

No clear top 3-5 priorities for the quarter.
Priorities exist but lack ownership or deadlines.
Teams are working on too many things at once.
Priorities are not measured or reviewed regularly.

KPIs – Yellow Flags

No clear success metrics tied to priorities.
KPIs are tracked but not used for decisions.
Focus is only on lagging indicators (e.g., revenue) instead of leading indicators (e.g., sales calls).
KPIs are not reviewed weekly or acted upon.

Z

Zero Defects (Execution Concept in Scaling Up)

Definition:

A quality and execution principle aimed at reducing errors, inefficiencies, and rework in business operations.
Originally from Total Quality Management (TQM), it applies to Scaling Up execution by ensuring that teams deliver high-quality work with minimal corrections.

Application in Scaling Up Execution:

Focus on Process Excellence – Prevent errors before they happen rather than fixing them later.
Use Playbooks – Document and refine best practices to ensure consistency across teams.
Accountability & Ownership – Assign clear responsibility for execution quality.
Continuous Improvement – Use feedback loops to refine execution and eliminate inefficiencies.

Companies that embrace Zero Defects in execution reduce bottlenecks, costly mistakes, and delays, driving scalable and sustainable growth.

Want to Improve your Business?

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