Greetings Transformation Leaders!

Welcome to Edition 7!

Ask yourself - what if you could transform team performance by focusing on just ONE thing at a time?

In this edition, we dive into how to:

• Focus with Purpose: Turn chaos into clarity through radical prioritization
• Transform Leadership: Apply the LIFT Framework to enable meaningful change
• Drive Alignment: Implement focused OKRs that get everyone moving in the same direction

Inside, you'll find:

• A $700M acquisition case study showcasing how ONE priority focus led to $50M in synergies in just 3 months.
• A comprehensive OKR tool powered by the LIFT Framework for immediate implementation
• Practical frameworks to identify, align, and execute your ONE most impactful priority

Ready to discover the transformative power of singular focus? Let's dive in.

Warm regards,

Adi

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LEADER'S VIEW

"Our acquisition should have been a slam dunk. Instead, nine months in, we're struggling to realize any value. We know the value is there – but we can't seem to deliver anything."

This was how the business President briefed me. I was newly accountable for a $700M acquisition, flailing and failing to achieve takeoff even after 9 months of effort and investment.

The experience highlights a common trap: trying to solve everything at once. Despite having a clear strategic vision and talented teams, we were stuck because we were juggling too many priorities simultaneously. Teams operated in silos, each pursuing their own "critical" objectives, and the promised synergies of the acquisition remained elusive.

What turned things around wasn't just implementing OKRs. It was embracing the power of radical focus. I have learned that transformation success comes from doing ONE thing exceptionally well before moving to the next.

Today, I'll share how we combined this principle of singular focus with leadership transformation and OKRs to create lasting change.

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BREAKING THE ALIGNMENT BARRIER

Our teams were chasing multiple priorities simultaneously, and even the most promising initiatives were stalled. We kept throwing people and technology at the problem.

• Teams were drowning in competing priorities, each labeled as "urgent". I did some digging and found that we had 2300+ builds in our backlog with dozens that were 4+ years old.
• Leaders attempted to drive multiple transformation initiatives simultaneously. We were trying to transform everything all at once and expecting it all to come together like a neat little act of nature.
• Employees were overwhelmed and unable to deliver excellence on any front. Our teams were working nonstop and exhausted, our builds were failing, and our customers were unhappy and leaving us. The Board and CEO were unhappy.
• Our resources were spread thin across too many objectives. We kept adding people. In the 90 days before I became the owner of this opportunity, we’d doubled our team to 100+ engineers – and that was just tech. Marketing, Product, Sales, Operations, Client Management – everyone was beefing up.

In summary, our transformation progress was diluted by a lack of focus. Think of it like trying to fill multiple buckets with a single hose - you end up with several partially filled buckets instead of one full one. The power of water, like our efforts, is most effective when concentrated in one direction.

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THE SOLUTION: ONE Focus + LIFT + OKRs

Before implementing OKRs, we needed to transform how leaders think about priorities.

• First, I spent 30 days listening, analyzing, and building a hypothesis – no sudden moves.
• Then I wrote an Amazon-style memo distilling my exploration and realizations into a simple 4-page narrative. I made sure my leaders were in complete agreement with the facts and the analysis.
• The thesis was “We will build a reliable, modern platform in 12 months. That is it.”

FRAMEWORK: THE PHYSICS OF LEADERSHIP (LIFT)

Let me share a framework I have built for these leadership situations. LIFT, Powered by a radical focus on ONE objective at a time. I use this to orchestrate what often appears undoable.

1. Learn: Start by identifying your ONE most impactful challenge. Like a magnifying glass focusing sunlight, your team's energy is most powerful when concentrated on a single point. Instead of listing ten problems, find the ONE that, when solved, makes everything else easier.
2. Impact: Channel all your resources toward that ONE priority. Imagine trying to break through a wall. You'll make more progress with one focused strike than many scattered taps. When we focus our tools, teams, and energy on ONE goal, we achieve breakthrough results.
3. Fulfill: Align everyone's efforts with this singular focus and start winning - even small wins at first. It's like a rowing team. Success comes from every rower pulling in perfect unison toward ONE destination. Help your team understand why this ONE priority matters most. Reinforce it often. Soon it becomes a habit. And then, as one of my leaders once said - swagger. This is what a "we can do anything" team looks and feels like.
4. Transform: Build this focused approach into your organization and team DNA. Like a laser cutting through steel, concentrated effort on ONE priority at a time leads to profound transformation.

With this foundation of radical focus, we add on the OKR framework.

FRAMEWORK: 5-Step OKR ALIGNMENT

1. Define THE ONE Organizational Objective: Instead of 3-5 competing goals, identify the ONE objective that matters most right now. For our acquisition case, my 12-month objective was “we will build a reliable, modern platform." We focused this down further for the first quarter, "Integrate core customer service platforms within 90 days to deliver unified customer experience."
2. Cascade Focused OKRs: Every team's OKRs should directly support this ONE objective. No scattered efforts, no "nice to have" projects. Only laser-focused alignment toward the main goal.
3. Ensure Transparent Priority: Make this ONE priority visible everywhere. When anyone asks what matters most, everyone should give the same answer.
4. Regular Focus Checks: Use bi-weekly sprints and "alignment huddles" to ensure teams haven't drifted into multiple competing priorities. Like a compass pointing north, keep redirecting efforts toward the ONE main objective.
5. Complete and Shift: Only when the ONE priority is achieved do we move to the next. This isn't about being slow. It's about being thorough and excellent and creating levers that work.

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CASE STUDY: VALUE IN ACTION

Let's look at how this transformed our $700M acquisition.

Key Move: We stopped trying to boil the ocean and instead focused on heating ONE pot until it was ready.

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LEADERS TOOLKIT: OKR ALIGNMENT

Ready to implement this focused approach?

• Download the OKR Alignment Tool, and,
• Identify your ONE most impactful priority
• Align all teams around this singular focus
• Track progress without distraction
• Know when to shift to the next priority

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Remember: The most powerful transformations come from concentrated effort on ONE priority at a time. Like a master chef perfecting one dish before moving to the next, excellence comes from focused attention.

Start with your ONE most important objective, let LIFT guide your leadership transformation, and use OKRs to drive aligned execution.

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Tool in this edition

​Tool_OKR_Alignment_LIFT Integration.pdf​

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