Espresso: The Quarterly Lever Check.
15 minutes of input, one hour of teamwork. Which lever actually counts next quarter?
Quarterly planning almost always starts with one question: “What should we work on?” Wrong question. The right one: “Which single lever moves the most this quarter?”
The check in 15 minutes
Four diagnostic questions, three minutes each. Everyone writes their answers down separately, then you compare:
- If you could only pull three levers, which would they be?
- Which of them has the shortest chain to impact? (= fastest results)
- Which has the most leverage? (= biggest results, longer chain to impact)
- Which of them has the clearest owner?
Where the four answers converge = your lever for the quarter.
The fall-back question
A fifth question completes the picture: “What happens if we agree on the wrong one?” If the answer is “nothing bad”, it’s probably not the lever it should be.
15 minutes of input, one hour of teamwork, and you have a quarterly plan that doesn’t fall apart at the first sign of pressure.
One lever that carries beats three that only pick up the pace.