Ops in a Box - Playbook Summary

A practical system for building Alignment, Accountability, and Clarity at every level of your organization

💡 Executive Summary

Ops in a Box is a modular operating system for building clarity, accountability, and alignment across your organization. It gives leaders simple, repeatable tools to connect purpose, strategy, structure, and feedback — and you can start anywhere.

Why Organizations Struggle

Most companies don’t fall behind because of their product — they fall behind because their operating system doesn’t support growth.

Misaligned goals. Unclear ownership. Reactive planning. Inconsistent management.

Ops in a Box fixes this by helping you:

  • Connect purpose, values, strategy, and structure
  • Reduce decision friction
  • Translate strategy into quarterly goals
  • Clarify roles, expectations, and growth paths
  • Build predictable rhythms for feedback and alignment

How the Playbook Works

Ops in a Box is modular. Each framework can stand alone, and together they reinforce each other.

Each component includes:

  • Critical Practices
  • Contextual Options
  • Outputs

Your diagnostic determines where to begin.

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Where to Start

You have options. There is no right way. But depending on your situation or scenario, here’s a quick guide to the frameworks best suited for your organization—right now!

  • Under 10 people? Company 36Y + Values & Actions
  • Scaling quickly? Company & Departmental 36Y
  • Hiring rapidly? Job Banding + Bill of Rights
  • Culture drifting? F&AP + Values & Actions
  • Inconsistent management? Bill of Rights + F&AP
  • Poor goal visibility and communication? Company & Departmental 36Y

Phase 1 — Foundational Identity

Step 1 — Purpose & Mission

Defines why you exist and what you do in clear, repeatable language.

Outputs

  • 1–2 line Purpose & Mission statements
  • Embedded into hiring, onboarding, comms

Tools

  • Purpose vs. Mission worksheet
  • Energizer exercise
  • AI-assisted drafting guide

Step 2 — Values & Actions

Turns values into observable, coachable behaviors.

Critical Practices

  • Co-develop values with leaders
  • Define 3–4 behaviors per value

Contextual Options

  • Start with three values
  • Use story-sharing to gather examples

Outputs

  • Values with clearly defined behaviors
  • Expectations for collaboration and leadership

Tools

  • Values-to-Actions Matrix
  • Behavior Development Template
  • Reflection Guide

Phase 2 — Strategic Alignment

Step 3 — Strategic Anchors

Creates durable decision filters that clarify priorities and reduce friction.

Outputs

  • Three Anchors with meaning, trade-offs, examples

Tools

  • Reflection Guide
  • Prioritization Exercise

Step 4 — 36Y Goal Setting

Creates a consistent structure for Company → Department → Individual alignment.

Structure

  • Company 36Y
  • Department 36Y
  • Individual 36Y

Principles

  • Each goal ties to a Strategic Anchor
  • One accountable owner
  • Shared Red/Yellow/Green status
  • Monthly reviews + quarterly resets

Outputs

  • Live 36Y Tracker
  • Clear goal ownership
  • Quarterly review cadence

Tools

  • 36Y Cascade Template
  • Quarterly Review Guide
  • Leadership Deck

Phase 3 — Structural Alignment

Step 5 — Team Member Bill of Rights

Defines what every employee can consistently expect from leadership and managers.

Outputs

  • Plain-language Bill of Rights
  • Integrated into onboarding and manager training

Tools

  • Example Bill of Rights
  • Psychological Safety Check-In
  • Manager Reflection Prompts

Step 6 — Job Banding

Creates transparent structure for roles, levels, expectations, and growth.

Levels (Operational → Hybrid → Strategic)

Operational

  • Level 1 — Executes with guidance
  • Level 2 — Owns repeatable work; improves process

Hybrid

  • Level 3 — Leads projects; mentors others
  • Level 4 — Designs processes; cross-functional influence

Strategic

  • Level 5 — Sets functional strategy
  • Level 6 — Shapes multi-team direction and culture

Critical Practices

  • Every role has defined scope, autonomy, expectations
  • Everyone understands their level and growth path

Outputs

  • Published Job Banding Framework
  • Career ladders + promotion rubrics
  • Role clarity templates

Tools

  • Global Banding Guide
  • Strengths Alignment Worksheet
  • Manager Transition Module

Phase 4 — Accountability & Feedback

Step 7 — Feedback & Alignment Program (F&AP)

Establishes a repeatable rhythm for reflection and performance alignment.

Structure

  • Self-assessment
  • Manager feedback
  • Optional peer/360 input

Assessment Covers

  • Role expectations
  • Values & Actions
  • Contribution to Y-Goals

Outputs

  • Self-assessment and review templates
  • 1:1 prompts
  • Recurring review cadence

Tools

  • F&AP Templates
  • Feedback Conversation Guide
  • PERMA Pulse Overlay

Step 8 — Team Cohesion Survey (Optional)

Measures trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.

Outputs

  • Team health summary
  • Debrief + action plan

Tools

  • Cohesion Survey Template
  • Debrief Guide

Phase 5 — Implementation & Adaptation

Critical Practices

  • Monthly check-ins
  • Quarterly retrospectives
  • Annual review of purpose, goals, banding, feedback systems

Contextual Options

  • 60-day pilots
  • Staggered rollout by team

Outputs

  • Implementation Roadmap
  • Coaching Integration Plan
  • Reflection & Adaptation Guide

Implementation Roadmap

A linear view of the rollout - if you embark on a process to implement all the frameworks. Or you can implement in pieces. It’s your call.

  1. Purpose & Mission
  2. Values & Actions
  3. Strategic Anchors
  4. 36Y Goal Setting
  5. Bill of Rights
  6. Job Banding
  7. F&AP
  8. Cohesion Survey

Embedding Ops in a Box

In Hiring & Onboarding

  • Use Values & Actions, Job Banding, and Bill of Rights from day one.

In Performance & Recognition

  • Ground evaluations in behaviors and aligned goals.

In Planning & Decision-Making

  • Use Strategic Anchors and the 36Y as filters.

In Feedback & Culture

  • Use Values & Actions during coaching and retros.

Next Steps

  • Start your diagnostic
  • Request implementation support

🌐 About Us

We help organizations build clarity, accountability, and alignment through scalable systems.

Ops in a Box can be implemented internally or through guided facilitation.