90u Glossary
1-year goals
The objectives your team or the organization needs to accomplish in the next 12 months to stay on track with your Compelling and Audacious Goals.
3-year goals
The objectives and targets a Senior Leadership Team sets to inspire the organization toward its path of completing your Compelling and Audacious Goals.
9 Core Competencies
The nine areas businesses need to master to build a great company. The 9 Core Competencies are Vision, Customer, Goals, People, Structure, Data, Meetings, Process, and Exit.
Accidental BOS
Early-stage businesses often have an operating system that's mostly improvised, reactive, and disorganized. Since the business is just starting out, there's a lot in flux and little consistency.
Agreements-based Leadership and Coaching (ALC)
A philosophy of leadership stating that anyone who heads a team must use agreements to align the team, be a leader for the team, and be a coach to each person on the team.
Annual Planning Meeting (APM)
A meeting that occurs once a year, usually over two full days, to conduct longer-term strategic work, a review of the company’s vision, and an update of 3-year and 1-year Goals.
Baseline Assessment
An assessment to establish your organization's proficiencies with the 9 Core Competencies, provide you with a BOS Readiness Score, and offer insights on whether or not you would benefit from a coach.
BOS platform
A set of online tools used that help integrate data, opportunities, issues, processes, and people to help a business achieve its goals while accelerating its vision. Ninety is a BOS platform.
business
A business can be small or big (by its number of people or revenue), new or old, but is primarily in the earlier Stages of Development. Every commercial organization starts as a business and may evolve into a company.
business operating system (BOS)
An organized set of concepts, tools, and disciplines describing how an organization operates.
Cascading Messages
Messages sent from other teams — usually from the SLT or human resources to the rest of the company. In Ninety, these are shown during the Headlines section of a meeting.
change management
How an organization systematically handles operational changes, including adaptations to goals, processes, technologies, and more.
Clarity Time
Scheduled time (30-60 minutes) during your work week to clear your head.
coach
An experienced guide who teaches a BOS to an individual or team. Coaches typically attend and facilitate various meetings. Each BOS refers to coaches differently. For example, EOS® calls them Implementers.
company
A company refers to a more developed business that can operate efficiently without its founder. Companies are typically at a higher Stage of Development.
Compelling Value Proposition (CVP)
A company’s value creation promise to its customers, usually one of: lowest cost, innovation, customer service, or status.
Compelling Why
A Focus Filter of your vision that encapsulates the reason your organization exists (its purpose), the powerful emotions that influence you (your passion), and/or a future state so appealing that you're willing to go the extra mile to work toward it (you just cause).
Compelling and Audacious Goals (CAGs)
Modeled after Jim Collins' Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs), these are challenging and inspiring 10-year targets for a company.
Competency, Commitment, Capacity (CCC)
Ninety's framework for evaluating a team member's fit for a specific Seat.
concepts, tools, and disciplines (CTDs)
The concepts that help leaders turn their vision into reality, the tools they use to align work with the organization's vision, and the disciplines that help keep teams on track toward their goals.
Core Functions
The essential departments an organization needs to operate (such as Sales, Marketing, and Operations). Core Functions are led by subject-matter experts.
Core Processes
An organization's essential, repeated tasks that must be executed well every time; these are the most strategic, value-adding procedures your organization does regularly, so they need to be documented, ingrained, and continuously refined by the team members who are associated with those activities.
Core Values
A set of guiding principles and behaviors that an organization desires to see consistently embodied by its team members.
culture
The shared beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and practices that shape the way people in an organization interact and work together. Strong cultures are characterized by trust, collaboration, open communication, and a sense of shared purpose.
Customer Competency
The Customer Competency reflects a company’s ability to identify and market to its Ideal Customers and serve them consistently at the highest level. An organization’s Compelling Value Proposition must resonate deeply with its Ideal Customers. Learn more in our Ideal Customers Brief.
customer journey
The customer journey is a visualization/illustration (step by step) that shows your customers how you deliver value. It should resonate with your company's Ideal Customer. People, systems, and processes are aligned with it.
Data Competency
One of the 9 Core Competencies, the Data Competency refers to teams using data, scorecards, metrics, and Rocks or goals to steer their work.
Designed BOS
This type of BOS is expert-led, industry-specific, and calculated. Built by coaching company experts based on their experience with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of businesses, a Designed BOS consists of interrelated concepts, tools, and disciplines that work best when used together.
direct reports
Team members who report directly to a specific manager.
Exit Competency
The Exit Competency assesses how well an organization is preparing for a future sale or leadership transition. For founders, purposeful exit planning aligns growth with value acceleration activities, driving up company valuation and maximizing returns for owners. This ensures a smoother transition and great outcomes for all Ideal Stakeholders.
facilitator
The person leading a meeting. In most instances, it's preferable to have a person other than the facilitator running Ninety's software and taking notes.
Focus Filters
The essential elements of a simple but complete company vision: Core Values, Compelling Why, industry and niche, Ideal Customer, Compelling Value Proposition, and goals (including CAGs, 3-year and 1-year goals, Rocks). Each decision a team member makes should be aligned with these organizational commitments.
Foundation Setting Session
Part of a three-step process we recommend for upgrading your Business Operating System that covers mastering four key time-tested concepts, tools, and disciplines: the Org Chart, Rocks, Scorecards, and Weekly Team Meetings.
get smart stuff done
As one of our Core Values, this maxim broadens our focus from moving quickly to being mindful of each decision to make the wisest choices for the organization.
Goal Setting Session
Part of a three-step process we recommend for upgrading your Business Operating System that covers mastering four key time-tested concepts, tools, and disciplines: 3-Year Goals, 1-Year Goals, Rocks, and Issues lists.
Goals Competency
The Goals Competency looks at an organization’s ability to establish, track, and achieve its compelling set of long-term (10-year), medium-term (2- to 5-year), and short-term (1-year, 90-day) objectives. Learn more about setting long-term goals in our Compelling and Audacious Goals Brief.
Headlines
A feature of Ninety's Meetings tool used to communicate news or announcements.
Henryx
Found through Settings within Ninety, Henryx is a bot that allows people to interact with Ninety via text messaging.
high-trust companies (HTCs)
Companies that have high-trust relationships with 90% of their Ideal Stakeholders. HTCs actively build on trust's three dimensions: character, competency, and connection.
Holistic BOS
A Holistic business operating system is proven, time-tested, and enduring. With support for every main business function, Holistic BOSs have all the major concepts, tools, and disciplines associated with building an enduring company.
Ideal Customers
Customers who embody a specific mix of geographic (where they are), demographic (who they are), and psychographic (what they want) characteristics.
Ideal Stakeholders
Stakeholders are ideal when they identify with and exemplify your Core Values and culture.
Ideal Team Members
People who represent the company's Core Values, are a great cultural fit, have the CCC for their Seat, and believe in the company's vision.
industry and niche
One of the primary Focus Filters outlined in your organization's vision describes what kind of business you're in and what you provide to that industry's market.
Integrated BOS
An Integrated BOS is cloud-based, actualized, and unified. It seamlessly includes data with cross-organizational views of KPIs, goals, responsibilities, and more through the implementation of a BOS platform that contains all the core concepts, tools, and disciplines needed to make the founder’s Vision a reality.
Intentional BOS
An Intentional BOS is stable, purposeful, and experienced. It's built out of the collective experience of an organization's Senior Leadership Team, which agrees on a common set of tools and disciplines.
Issue
A problem, obstacle, idea, or opportunity to discuss and solve as a team.
keep/kill/combine
A strategy used to tackle issues. What needs to stick around? What can be made into a To-Do or simply marked off? What Issues are similar and warrant discussing together?
key performance indicator (KPI)
A quantifiable measure or metric used to evaluate the success of an organization, team member, and so on, in meeting agreed-upon objectives for performance. While KPIs are metrics, not all metrics are KPIs. KPIs are only the most essential (or key) metrics. In the Ninety platform, KPIs are set and tracked in the Data Scorecard.
layer
A horizontal row on an organizational structure chart that represents work with similar Time Spans of Responsibility.
Long-Term Issue (LTI)
An Issue that can wait to be discussed until the team's next Quarterly Planning Meeting. Some LTIs turn into Rocks for the following quarter.
Long-Term Issues List
A section in the Issues tool that collects Issues to discuss at the next quarterly meeting. You can add any Issue to the Long-Term Issues list by right-clicking it and choosing "Long-Term" from the list of options.
Meetings Competency
The Meetings Competency measures a defining feature of any organization: its meetings. The right meeting cadence and agenda make the best use of a team’s time — enhancing team health, creating accountability, turning expectations into agreements, and resolving pressing Issues. Learn more in our Weekly Team Meetings Brief.
Milestones
Segments of a Rock that can be assigned to anyone.
My 90
A customizable workspace and hub for all your essential items in the Ninety platform. You can see all your Team To-Dos, Personal To-Dos, Rocks, and Scorecard KPIs in this accessible workspace.
note-taker
The person assisting the facilitator in a meeting by taking notes for the group and operating the software to move through the agenda, create To-Dos, and more.
Org Fitness Review
An assessment for any team to take quarterly for measuring your growth in the 9 Core Competencies.
People Competency
The People Competency reflects the quality and coherence of a company’s organizational values, norms, and culture. One of the top priorities for strengthening this competency is trust. High-trust relationships align individuals and teams, allowing organizations to thrive. Learn more in our Core Values Brief and Culture Brief.
Process Competency
The Process Competency measures an organization’s ability to identify, document, and follow processes that define how we do business. Processes have the power to bring alignment to Seats, teams, and entire organizations. Learn more in our Process Brief.
RACI
A project management tool used to help teams clarify roles, accountabilities, and responsibilities.
- Responsible
- Accountable
- Consulted
- Informed
Raise, Discuss, Resolve (RDR)
Ninety's method of processing Issues — someone raises an Issue for the team to discuss and determine the path toward its resolution.
Right Person, Right Seat
A framework for hiring people who exhibit your Core Values, fit your culture, are passionate about your vision (Right Person), and who have the Competency, Commitment, and Capacity for the position they're filling (Right Seat).
Rocks
A 90-day goal established during a Quarterly or Annual Planning Meeting. One person is accountable for the completion of a team or individual Rock. Additional responsibilities or tasks can be assigned to others through Milestones.
roles, accountabilities, and responsibilities (RARs)
The detailed functions, obligations, and duties of a given Seat in an organization.
Scalar
A business that is stuck in survival mode with no sense of its long-term goals or purpose.
Scaler
A company that has created a compelling vision and has a plan to adapt and grow to meet its goals.
Scorecard
A single chart to report, monitor, and analyze the key numbers an organization, team, or individual needs to ensure they're on track. Scorecards show KPIs and how they're performing relative to their set target. Ninety's Data tool enables Scorecards to set various timeframes for KPIs: weekly, trailing 4-week, monthly, trailing 13-week, quarterly, and annual.
Seat
A function-specific position in an organization that carries roles, accountabilities, and responsibilities. We use the Org Chart tool to provide an overview of the various Seats and the lines of reporting that we need to operate.
Senior Leadership Team
The highest-level team in an organization, including: The visionary, founder, or CEO; the COO, Integrator™, or second-in-command; and the head of each Core Function.
Short-Term Issue
An Issue that needs to be addressed before the next quarter. Issues with the highest priority are raised and discussed in Weekly Team Meetings. These Issues are collected in a team's Short-Term Issues list.
Short-Term Issues List
A collection of a team's Short-Term Issues. Team members can add and prioritize Issues they would like to discuss during a Weekly Team Meeting with the Issues tool.
SMaC
Stands for Specific, Methodical, and Consistent. The SMaC recipe comes from the book Great by Choice, written by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen.
SMART
Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. We practice making our Rocks SMART. This framework can be used for any goal.
Stages of Development
One of Ninety's foundational frameworks for measuring a company’s progress and charting its growth. There are five stages businesses go through on their way to becoming great companies: (1) Survive -> (2) Sustain -> (3) Scale -> (4) Succeed -> (5) Steward.
Strata and Levels of Work
A distinct layer (horizontal row in an Org Chart) in an organization is called a Strata and represents a distinct level of responsibility and decision-making authority. Levels of work correspond with the RARs of the Seats in their respective Strata.
strategic partner
A business/person a company works with to gain/serve clients they bring in.
Structure Competency
The Structure Competency measures how well you identify the Core Functions of your organization; create an Org Chart that clarifies roles, accountabilities, and responsibilities; and place the right people in the right seats. Learn more in our On Organizational Structure Guide.
Target
An agreed-upon bar set for a KPI. Ninety's Data tool shows KPIs as being above, below, or equal to their targets.
The 20/80 Rule
A framework for detailing the top 20% of essential processes responsible for 80% of outcomes.
Time Span Capacity (TSC)
How long a team member can perform their responsibilities independently or without close supervision.
Time Span of Focus (TSF)
How far into the future senior leaders can envision and confidently turn a goal into reality.
Time Span of Responsibility (TSR)
How long the average tasks of a Seat take to execute.
To-Do
An identified, specific task or action item with two or more parties agreeing on what needs to be done, who needs to complete it, and when it needs to be accomplished.
user roles
Roles dictate what content a user can edit or view within the Ninety platform. Possible roles include Owner, Admin, Manager, Team Member, Observer, and Coach.
vendor
A product or service a company uses.
vision
An organization's definition of itself and the expression of its highest aspirations.
Vision Competency
The Vision Competency includes the many facets of an organization’s definition of itself and the expression of its highest aims. A compelling vision defines the company’s identity, purpose, and direction — its who, why, what, and where. Learn more in our Vision Brief.
visionary
A leader or entrepreneur who has a future state in mind that they want to turn into reality.
Weekly Team Meeting (WTM)
A meeting that occurs once a week so teams can solve problems, prioritize tasks, and ensure To-Dos and Rocks are on track.
Work with a capital W
Work with a capital W refers to work people love doing.
Work 7.0: The Age of Information
An era in which lower costs of computing and information processing and more data tools made it possible for people to work remotely.
Work 8.0: The Age of Understanding
An era that recognizes Work as part of our people's personal evolution.
Work 9.0: The Age of Self-Actualization
The future of work, an era recognizing new levels of awareness so we can work to become better versions of ourselves.