Ever get that surprise from your team that your results are off track?
You know the feeling. You’ve clearly defined a result, your team has created a solid plan, and regular reports are coming in. Everything should be running smoothly. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, you get the dreaded surprise—your results are off track. You’re left wondering how things went wrong without anyone noticing.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. You need agile growth strategies for scaling your business to stay ahead of the curve and maintain control.
Shift from Reactive to Proactive with Agile Growth Strategies
In The Difference Between a Proactive & a Reactive Business Strategy, Scott Thompson writes, “Proactive strategies are superior because they allow the company using the strategy the freedom to make its own decisions rather than responding out of necessity to a situation that already may be out of control.”
Most traditional frameworks (OKR, SMART, etc) don’t allow enough flexibility to adapt when things go wrong.
The R.E.S.U.L.T.S. framework offers agile growth strategies for scaling your business by catching problems before they turn into big issues. It helps your business stay on course, even when things change. This framework is built to support growing companies by blending agility with a clear plan.
Here’s what R.E.S.U.L.T.S. stands for:
- R: Result – Focus on a specific, measurable outcome. Be clear about what success looks like.
- E: Execution Team – Assign ownership to someone who is directly responsible for delivering the result. Make sure they’re accountable.
- S: Stakeholders – Identify who needs to be informed about progress and outcomes.
- U: Urgency & Impact: This factor assesses both the time sensitivity and the potential influence of a task or goal. Urgency defines how quickly action is needed, while Impact measures the task’s significance in driving overall objectives and success.
- L: Leverage Methods – Outline specific steps or tactics to reach the result.
- T: Tracking Metrics – Set up indicators to measure progress. Establish triggers to signal when things start to go off course.
- S: Solutions for Obstacles – Plan contingencies to challenges in advance. Define when to activate these plans to avoid last-minute scrambling.
For growing companies, agile growth strategies for scaling your business are essential. The R.E.S.U.L.T.S. framework gives you the structure to keep growing while staying flexible enough to adapt to change.
The Problem: No Clear Triggers Before Things Go Off Track
You’ve likely been in this situation: You’ve set a clear result, your team comes up with a plan, and reporting is happening regularly. It all seems fine—until you suddenly realize that things are off track.
When this happens, it often feels too late. Your team scrambles for a solution, but here’s where it gets messy:
- Rushed decisions under pressure can lead to the wrong fixes and make things worse.
- Even if the right solution is found, the team is so deep in the problem that execution becomes rushed and sloppy.
This lack of foresight—of knowing when things start to go wrong—is a gap in most goal-setting frameworks. By the time you notice, the damage has been done, and you’re stuck reacting to the problem instead of managing it proactively.
Make Course Corrections Before It’s Too Late
The R.E.S.U.L.T.S. framework helps you see problems before they become critical. By focusing on leading indicators and setting clear triggers for action in advance, the framework helps you spot when things are going off track early. This allows for calm, planned responses rather than panic.
- Result: Set clear, measurable goals tied to timelines.
- Tracking Metrics: Use leading key performance indicators (KPIs) that tell you when things are going off course before it’s too late.
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Solutions for Obstacles: Proactively consider possible obstacles and the actions your team will take if the triggers are hit.
Agile, Adaptable, and Built for Growth
The R.E.S.U.L.T.S. framework isn’t just another way to set goals. It’s a system designed to catch problems before they happen. By building in triggers and planning responses ahead of time, you shift from reacting to being proactive. This is what fast-growing companies need—an approach that helps you stay ahead, see challenges coming, and keep moving forward. Implementing agile growth strategies for scaling your business with this framework gives you the tools to grow sustainably and confidently.
If you’re ready to move from reacting to problems to anticipating them, we can help. Through our tailored Agile Growth Strategies for Scaling Your Business, we work with founders and CEOs to create proactive, actionable plans that put you in control, no matter what challenges arise. Let’s talk about how we can apply these principles to streamline your operations, improve leadership, and scale your business with confidence.