Episode Transcript
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Robert Plank (00:02):
From a strawberry
patch at age eight to founding a
top tier branding agency andproducing a mental health
documentary. It's Mr. JoshuaAdams returned guest after nine
years, and he is the definitionof entrepreneurial invention. He
is now a full time Eos,Entrepreneurial Operating System
(00:24):
implementer and Mr. Joshua Adamshelps overwhelmed visionaries
gain clarity, freedom andtraction. We're here on the
marketer of the day podcast withRobert plank to talk about it.
We're sponsored by D FY podcast,where we handle your podcast
back end so you can focus onbuilding powerful conversations.
(00:44):
And today's powerfulconversation is about Mr.
Visionary, Mr. Fractional, CMO,who has changed up his life in
nine months and said, I want todo something new. And he walked
away from his successful agency,Rock Paper, simple to go all in
on EOS. It's called pivoting. Sowe're here to talk about it.
(01:07):
Jump in. Catch up. Have somefunds. Mr. Josh Adams, how the
heck are
Joshua Adams (01:10):
you doing good?
Doing good? Like you said, it's
been a wild ride this year. Allwithin this year, we fostered
several children. This year, mywife and I, we sold our agency.
I rolled off of being afractional CMO. Bought an EOS
franchise, and we adopted one ofthose kiddos. So I can't even
begin to describe what the lastyear has been for me, but very,
(01:33):
very excited to be here. I thinkit's been like you said. Think
it's been nine years since we'vebeen on here together.
Robert Plank (01:38):
Oh yeah, it has
been and and so there's the nine
month sprint, but nine yearshave changed. And a couple of
years ago I had someone whoexplained about Napoleon Hill,
or someone like that, who hadsome factory and at the end of
the year they would like sellall the factory machinery, and
at the beginning of the yearthey'd like buy new stuff, and
just that whole idea of, like,you pack it all in in the year.
(02:01):
And many times I've been like,you know, many people, they
around the end of the year,December, they like, take a
break, they say holidays, theysay, I can do that, but I also
want to get these things done.And it might it feels like a
little superstitious, but I justhave that feeling of like I'm
about to leave for a trip. Ihave to pack my bags, have to
get everything done. And I havethat kind of artificial, healthy
(02:22):
sense of urgency just to getthat whole year done. And that
way I can look back in the yearand be like, Well, cool, I got
so much done. And I have a it'sstored in that slot in my memory
banks of like, okay, that year Igot, I, you know, I you adopted
the kid you fostered the kid youdid the implementer ring. It's,
you know, you've accomplished somuch.
Joshua Adams (02:43):
Yeah, I think the,
it's funny, you mentioned the
artificial, you know, sense ofurgency, if you will, which is
part of the magic of Eos. Andthen we'll get into that. But
the part of my, one of myfavorite components of it is
it's create the way it leverageshuman energy, right? And when we
create urgency, we create a lotmore energy that we're typically
human nature saves for lateroverall procrastinators. And I
(03:05):
think when you set that foryourself, whether it's personal
goals or it's business goals orthe whole 90 day world EOS puts
you into, you're creating thatsense of urgency faster, more
more quickly, if you will,right? So we'll often set goals
for ourselves that are way outone day, I'll get to it right.
And because we tend to naturallyprocrastinate, the energy scale
(03:27):
looks something like this, andthen we go and do it right. And
so by setting those whatever,that artificial sense of urgency
for whatever it is, whether it'sbusiness, whether it's personal
goals, you get the spikes ofenergy happening much faster and
much more frequently, and Ithink it's a lot healthier.
Robert Plank (03:43):
Yeah, I think so
as long as it's you're
intentional about it, right?Because no one wants to be doing
an all nighter. But then thatwhat you just described, there
of the goals rotting on thevine, so to speak, like when you
have that, you say, Oh, well,right? This year, I'll start the
podcast this year, write thebook, and then there is
something to the unmet goalsthat have been sitting for
(04:05):
years, and you end up looking atit with dread and almost hating
it, and you're like, but whenyou set the goal two years ago,
you were excited about it, andnow it becomes a thing that when
you look at it, think about it,you have these negative
thoughts, versus saying, Well,hey, I've got this 90 day
sprint. I got my 12 week year,I'll make some progress on it
that seems to be more likehealthier and get the momentum.
(04:26):
But like, we're human beings,right? We self sabotage, and
there's all these traps to fallinto. Like, I think the whole
joke of the big, long to do listis you write 200 things and then
you say, oh, what's fun, or whatyou know, I'll clean out my
desk, I'll rearrange my mydrawers, and you end up checking
(04:46):
off, like, literally, the leastimportant things. And so if we
need a little bit morestructure, or just get our
business back on track, it seemslike EOS provides, like, just
enough structure where you'renot. Limited. But like you said,
it kind of plays into humannature. And so I've had a few
EOS implementers on here, but Ihave to admit, like, I've only
(05:07):
got part of the way through thetraction book. It's one of those
procrastinating things. But canyou catch us up if maybe someone
has heard of it or is new to it?Like, what's the elevator pitch
about EOS? Yeah, we
Joshua Adams (05:20):
call it a business
operating system. The challenge
I think people have with that isthey hear that and they think
it's software, it's notsoftware, right? There is
software to help you run Eos,but EOS really is a framework
for running your business. Itbreaks it down into six key
components, and how do you getyour business healthier? And all
of those components ultimatelycreating clarity of vision,
better traction where you'reactually getting things done day
(05:42):
in day out within a businesswithout necessarily always
having to have your hands oneverything. And it builds a
healthier team, right? So at ahigh level, that's what we're
trying to do with it. It'sreally a set of tools of
disciplines. And you're when youhear of these tools of
disciplines, and you go rattlethem off, because, well, I've
heard of that before. I've heardright? People write seats before
I've heard of these differentthings, and that's because it's
(06:03):
really a common combination ofall these different tools and
frameworks that are out there totry to create something that is
repeatable, simple, easy tofollow. You know, for me, we I
would often read a book and gothe breaking of a business. For
example, love it great. We'redoing open book accounting, and
we're doing all this stuff, andwe would do it really gung ho
for what, six months, right?Maybe a year, and then a new
(06:25):
idea or a new thing, and you'reoff to the new thing, and three
or four years later, you'resitting there with your
leadership team and saying, Weshould do open book accounting.
Wait a minute, didn't we used todo that? Yeah, we used to do
that. Why did we stop? Well,because we didn't have really a
framework to run within, and EOSprovides that framework. It
provides rules of the game,provides that approach of
saying, This is how we do it,and we're going to be consistent
(06:46):
and do it every time, right? Oneof the core tenants of Eos is
you must run on one operatingsystem, pick one, stick with it,
reuse it, right? And it soundslike it's a self fulfilling Hey,
you know, you must use oneoperating system, and EOS is an
operating system. But the pointisn't, you must use that. I tend
to think it's the better one,but you know that it's neither
here nor there, but ultimately,it's the idea of having a single
(07:08):
frame of rule set, if you will.Right? What are the rules of the
game that we're going to go andabide by? So I think at a high
level, that's really what it is.It's a set of tools and
disciplines,
Robert Plank (07:17):
and that's
powerful. And, you know, I'm not
a sports guy at all, but youtalk about, like, the rules of
the game, and you think, youknow, if there was, like, a
baseball game and someone hadthree strikes and it was like a
nationally televised game, theywouldn't say, Oh, he got three
strike, let's just throw anotherone, just because you'd say, No,
hey, hey, there are the rules,and then multiple people abide
(07:38):
by the rules. So that way itsticks. And it's like, there's,
um, there's a situation rightnow where, like, I have this
podcast client, and we weresupposed to give them, like, a
weekly, just quick, one page PDFreport, real simple to do, and
we just somehow fell off of it,because only one person was in
charge of that. There wasn't,like, a second person helping or
a third person checking. So itseems like you have these EOS
(08:01):
rules of the game, and then youhave enough people on the same
page about it. That way, thingsdon't slip through the cracks.
And so it's like, there's thiskind of worldwide phenomenon,
right? It's like becoming moreof a household name 850
implementers. And so it makes alot of sense to, like, jump on
(08:22):
something that it's it's known,it's proven. And you have to
imagine that a lot of companiesare either they use it and they
say, Okay, well, our influencergroup need a new one, or we're
disorganized. We keep hearingabout it. It seems like an
easier battle to fight to say,Hey, I'm an EOS implementer,
(08:43):
versus Hey, I've got the RockPaper simple system, right?
There's already the brandrecognition. But you tell me,
why did you make this switchfrom the agency to now the EOS
implementation?
Joshua Adams (08:55):
Yeah, the long
story made much shorter. We ran
Rock Paper, simple on Eos, weself implemented for about a
year, and then we hired animplementer for three years, and
so we ran it. I saw the magic itdid there. It allowed me to step
back. I became a fractional CMO.But the magic, the trick there
was, I only did it for EOScompanies. So I would only be
(09:16):
your fractional cmo if you wererunning on Eos, because it let
me jump in really fast. And itkind of created this little
niche for me. It was very cool.And so over about three or four
years, I sat in about 100 EOSsessions, right whether they
were being facilitated for mycompany or I was a fractional
leader sitting in a seat. And Ijust watched the change it made
(09:38):
in those companies, the focus itcreated, the freedom it created
for the business ownersspecifically, and the health IT
created for the leadershipteams. And I just really that I
want to do that right. My mywhole career, I've had a
statement on my wall, right? Ifyou were walked into my RPS
office, it said, and it said,empower talent, people. And one
(09:58):
day I was really dwelling on.What is my one thing? I read a
book, and it just hit me,people, coaching people,
building people up, is my onething. I happen to be in the
marketing industry for 24 years,but that wasn't my one thing.
And this actually hit me, I wasI was actually traveling, and I
called my wife and I said,Honey, my one thing isn't
marketing. And she goes, I knowyou're a coach. And I'm like,
(10:19):
Well, okay, what we could havegotten on the same page sooner.
And that really got my gearsgoing as far as, what is it that
I need to be doing with my life?What is it then to be doing? I
mean, I had a very successfulagency. I loved what I did. I
love that agency. I love thosepeople, but I realized I wasn't
operating in my calling and myGod given ability. And so that
was a couple years back I gotout of, I made the commitment to
(10:42):
get out of all operationalaspects of the business. Did
that over the next year, andthen this past years, went on
the journey to find a buyer forthe agency, and sold the company
in, like I said, July, and Ibought an us franchise earlier
this year. So it was one ofthose aha moments. I had this
aha moment that I wasn'toperating in really my one
(11:05):
thing, if you will. And reallywhat kind of triggered that in
my brain and my thinking was oneof the EOS books, the EOS life,
and it talks about reallyleaning and doing what you love.
And I realized that while I waswhat some people would define as
successful, I wasn't doing whatI loved anymore, what I love to
change, if that makes sense. AndI really wanted to get back to
serving people day in, day out,and as an EOS implementer,
(11:27):
literally, what I do is I workwith leadership teams like
that's what I do every day.That's what I get in a room with
them, and I my whole goal is toleave them better than I found
them. And that's just like thatjust fills me. That makes sense.
Robert Plank (11:40):
Yeah, it does, and
it's fascinating to hear about
just that you've set up this,this niche, this kind of pre
qualifier, right? Because youimagine that if, if there is a
company that is implementingEos, they stand out from many
others. And it's fun positioningfor you, because it's like
you're having these higherstandards, right? It's like,
(12:03):
you're, you're just going totake anyone like, it gives you
more prestige, and it's fun tothink about. And I'm a, I'm a,
my brain just thinks in termsof, like, like, four quadrants,
four seasons, right? And there'sthe time to have the chaos and
do things and figure out whatworks. But then after a while,
like, you might grow as aperson, you might outgrow your
business, or vice versa. Andthen that's when it comes time
(12:25):
to then reassess and take thatinventory and then say, Okay,
here's my real calling. Here'smy one thing which you would not
have figured out just bytheorizing, just based on the
hypotheticals, right? You haveto go out there and figure out
the data, figure out theresults, but then it's like,
it's such a weird just, it's, itseems exhausting, right? Because
(12:46):
you feel like you're kind oflooping again and again, and you
don't want to loop too fast,because then you're jumping from
thing to thing too much. Butit's like we're all on a
different path here. And so youare this EOS implementer. You
bought this EOS franchise. Youhelp these companies with their
EOS implementation. And is thereanything that you think maybe,
like, drives you crazy about thehard parts or, like, what's
(13:11):
maybe not paid attention toenough
Joshua Adams (13:13):
with all this
process? Do you mean as far as
EOS implementation? Yes.
Robert Plank (13:18):
Like, you know,
there's implementers and
companies, but like, what?What's not spoken about enough?
Joshua Adams (13:23):
I think I love
self implementing companies,
they should absolutely selfimplement to get started, right?
And I think that if you're theright company where you're not
ready to hire an implementer forwhatever reason, financially,
maybe you're just not quiteready, I think there's no shame
in doing that, but being willingto identify what is it that we
(13:43):
are not doing purely? And sothat's a term we use in the Eos
implementer community, EOS pure.And it sounds a little bit
holier than now, and it's reallynot. Basically, we're just
saying what's the right way todo it right? And when you're
self implementing you'll oftencome in with some things that
are not correct. And I think thebiggest challenge that I've seen
within self implementers, whenthey're making the transition
(14:04):
into using an implementer and wedid the same thing, is common
language. And I'm so big oncommon language meaning, call
the thing the same thingthroughout the organization.
Stop calling leads and prospectsinterchangeably, right? Okay, is
a prospect different than alead, or is, or is a different
stage of their sales process.Stop calling them the different
(14:25):
things. That's one example,right within the marketing and
sales space. But within EOSitself, I've seen they'll come
in and they'll say, yeah, theseare my quarterly goals. Okay,
well, in Eos, we call themrocks, like, specifically in the
book, it calls them rocks. Callthem that, right? Because if you
start using different language,even as a self implementer or
being implemented, you're goingto confuse people internally.
(14:48):
But you even more, you're goingto confuse your new people. So
when somebody new joins the teamhere, read the book, traction,
read the book. What the heck isthe OS, which is the employee
version, and they read it, andthey go, Okay, well, I see
rocks. What are our rocks?Something. Well, we don't have
rocks. You have quarterly goals.Well, that's really confusing,
right? So it's the commonalityof language. Is something so
important when people are makingthe transition from self
(15:08):
implementing to implementing,and I would say even before
that, because it creates so muchconfusion. I've got a client
coming on now that that's theissue on the call with them, we
do a 90 minute meeting. It'scalled, which is where we
present on EOS for 90 minutes.And it really gives them a
picture of what the tools are,the processes, the concept, the
model, all of that. And onething I identified when I was
(15:30):
listening to this team as Ipresented to them, was a major
lack of common language. Theyhad been self implementing for
three years, but they calledthings different things within
the meeting, right? And or Iwould say something that was
that this, and I just I noticedthat I took note of it. They
have become a client. I'm doingtheir sessions coming up here.
Gosh, it's this month. It'slater this month, and they're
(15:53):
gonna seem coming down, comingdown to Florida. And I know
that's something I'm gonna haveto work on as we go into this.
I'm gonna have to remind themthese are what things are
called. And I'm going toencourage you to hold yourself
to that standard of calling themcommon thing. And I think that
that lesson there isn't justimportant for companies on EOS.
I think it's important for anycompany be very careful that you
(16:13):
don't call things differentthings. You can become very,
very confusing very quickly, andyou can end up with
miscommunications that lastyears that you don't realize are
is happening. So that's, that'sone of the things that comes to
mind when you ask that yes,
Robert Plank (16:26):
and that's huge.
And it's like, I come from a
computer programming background,and a lot of the EOS like, it
seems to be kind of like,there's a lot of like, code in
there. And you know, as as weall know that now the AI is
ambiguous. If you have the wrongname or the wrong variable, then
it's all out the window. Andthere's so many times in my
prompts where I'm like, Well,you generate this you figure out
(16:48):
this answer. I'm like, story asthis exact variable name, and
later on, pick up this exactthing, because otherwise there's
an ambiguity. And like, I had afriend a bunch of your I had a
friend a bunch of years ago,you're making me remember, like
he we're talking about the wordvigorously and rigorously, and
he's like, Oh, well, those twowords basically mean the same
(17:09):
thing. And I lost respect forhim, and it kind of made the
crack show a little bit. Andnext thing I know, like he's
lying, he's he's not even sureabout how much money he makes.
And I just realized, like, hey,that's someone that doesn't take
words seriously. And it seems alittle anal retentive for us
both to say, but it's like, Hey,if you want to manage multiple
(17:31):
people and how them are workingtogether and take this whole
thing seriously, these wordsmatter, and like Dave Ramsey
calls it ish, right? People likeimplement Dave Ramsey ish. They
kind of pick and choose whatthey like. Be sure you pick and
then when it's not ideal orfails, well, who do you have to
blame? No one else but yourself.You should have used the system.
(17:51):
You should have used EOS pureinstead of just kind of choosing
what you wanted. And that's whyI can see how it helps to have
someone outside, like, you kindof say, like, Hey, I know that
you guys are all used to the waythings have been run, and maybe
letting a few things slide, buthey, with this fresh
perspective, the terms have beenkind of played fast and loose
(18:12):
and and so it's been fascinatingto hear about. I love this
concept. I love EOS and what youfigured out. But hey, you're the
star of the show here, Mr. JoshAdams, and so I want to make
sure that in these finalminutes, we focus on what's
important to you. So what do youthink is the missing question in
our conversation? What should Ibe asking you? I just don't know
(18:33):
to ask you.
Joshua Adams (18:34):
Yeah, I think
ultimately the question there
is, what high level why? Us thesimple question of, Why? Why
should somebody explore EOS? AndI think it's the best way I can
describe that. The impact itmade for me was it was like
driving, what's the right word?It's like, it's like navigating
a ship with really, withoutreally knowing, looking up,
(18:57):
right? Imagine you're navigatingthis ship on this on the ocean.
You're never really looking up,you're never looking up. You're
never looking out. You're neverclimbing up and look, take that
look out crown, that's right,and looking further out. And for
me, it gave me that right? Itallowed me to step out of the
business and look back down onit. There's a there's a concept
you can never fully understand,a system while you're a part of
(19:19):
it. And I think EOS gives youthe ability to remove yourself
for a time, for those sessions,and look down at the system and
go, Oh, okay, there's the chaos.Let me, let me work on this. Let
me, let me have a set of rulesof an approach with which I can
improve what I'm looking at. Buthaving an ability to step out of
it was really, really powerful.And so I think, why new EOS? I
(19:41):
think if you're feeling likeit's you're driving a little
rudderless, maybe you feel like,if I just work a little bit
harder, that was something Ialways felt like, if I just put
a few more hours, I'll finallyget there. Really, the key was
actually a stop for a secondstep back. Have a method with
which to look down on thebusiness and begin to make it.
Packed and begin to make changeon it. And that was why EOS for
(20:03):
me.
Robert Plank (20:04):
And I'm always so
impressed when someone has that
kind of advice, when they cansee the whole business and they
say things like, you know, youryour your income is this, or
your expenses is that, or yourlead flow is this, and versus
just, well, I'm just, I'm doingthe best I can. I'm grinding
harder, and sometimes, again, ittakes that person to apply the
system and look out from thecrow's nest and say, like, Hey,
(20:27):
I know that you say that youwant to work harder, but hasn't
that been your answer for thelast X number of years? Why not
try a different approach,different people, different
strategy? Maybe there are somesolutions that you wouldn't have
thought of if you were justboxed into this, this narrow
thinking. And so EOS is great tohear about. There's the tools,
(20:50):
all these concepts and themeetings, and you know, it gets
everyone working together, andit makes things simple and
manageable and and sustainable.So there isn't all this chaos
and panic. And what if thisthing up ends our market or our
industry, or this person quits,it just seems like it. It gets
things on track, but also keepsthe magic alive. So if someone
(21:12):
says, Man, Joshua Adams, heknows his stuff, Eos, sounds
amazing. Are there any nextsteps here? How does someone
reach out to you. Contact youhave this conversation? Yeah, I
think
Joshua Adams (21:23):
they can reach out
to me a couple different ways.
One of those is my micro sitewithin EOS worldwide, and that's
implementer dot EOSworldwide.com/joshua-adams,
that's a mouthful. And so maybeeven easier is actually they
can, they can hit greaterpurpose consulting.com and that
(21:44):
that's a shortcut to everythingelse.
Robert Plank (21:46):
Very fabulous. So
greater purpose consulting.com
and that gets, oops, greaterpurpose. So that's a greater
purpose. Not just great purpose,it's greater. And there you can
find out all about learningabout Eos, why to hire Joshua
and what his clients say. Andthat way, if, if you've been
(22:07):
procrastinating, like me andJoshua have been talking about
and you say, I keep hearingabout Eos, well maybe it's a
sign that you can you shouldpursue this. And if you've been
trying to self implement, that'sgreat, and that's fine. But if
it's just going too slow, ifit's one of those things on the
to do list, or New Year'sresolution, and say, I just
can't quite get there. How manytimes have we been stuck in our
(22:30):
own thinking like say, atschool, we couldn't figure out
an answer on a test, and heasked the teacher, and they say,
oh, it's it's so easy. You justneeded someone's outside help to
get there. So if you're ready tolead with clarity, grow with
purpose. The place to go isgreater purpose, consulting.com
and we'll also add in the shownotes that link directly to that
(22:52):
implementer page. Implementerdot EOS
worldwide.com/joshua-adams, Mr.Joshua Adams, from Melbourne,
Florida and Orlando, Florida,helps leadership teams get
aligned, gain traction, and stopfighting the same battles over
and over so that they can enjoyrunning the business again. And
(23:12):
that is implementer dot EOSworldwide.com/joshua-adams. And
greater purpose consulting.com.But before I let you go, Mr.
Josh Adams, it's time for thescary part of the podcast where
I try to stump you. I try to putyou on the spot by asking you
about a fun or interesting quoteor lesson that has served you.
(23:33):
So what comes to mind as far asa fun or interesting quote or
lesson?
Joshua Adams (23:38):
The first, the one
that always comes to mind is
success is a big pile of failurethat you're standing on, and
that that quote has reminded menot to because I would sometimes
get stuck on mistakes orfailures, right and have that
regret or that I should haveknown better, whatever. But
really, our success is becausewe kept pushing forward. And
something I've said a lot overthe years is ever forward to the
(24:00):
point where my teams begin tojoke about it becomes a joke.
Becomes a joke that everything'sever forward for me that really
is, that idea that our successreally is, is because we're
standing on our failures,because we made those feelings
and did not let them stop us orget us to the point where we
begin to despair, we use them aswell. That didn't work. Let me
keep pushing forward. Let mekeep moving forward and
(24:20):
determining what is next for me.But without our failures, we are
not we cannot be successful. Wehave to have the foundation of
what did not work for us. Andsometimes that's just me made a
mistake, and sometimes it's uslearning what not to do, or
learning Well, that wasn't forme, that wasn't my calling, that
wasn't where I know my uniqueability. And so I do, I feel
like that quote is one of myfavorites,
Robert Plank (24:42):
and it's a great
quote ever forward and just
building your successes on topof failure. It's a great
concept. And if you're anorganization out there who could
use Mr. Joshua Adams infectiousenergy, his leadership, his
team, building his enthusiasm,then go to greater purpose.
Consulting.com and read aboutEOS if you haven't already. It's
(25:04):
a proven business operatingsystem that can help your
entrepreneurial organizationclarify, simplify and achieve
its vision. And Mr. Joshua Adamshas been working with it for
over five years. He has foundthat when applied Well, it just
works, and you can hire him forthe structured sessions and real
world coaching to guide yourleadership teams through the EOS
(25:26):
tools and process to help yougain clarity, drive
accountability and create realtraction toward your goals that
is greater purposeconsulting.com and Mr. Joshua
Adams, it's great to see youagain and catch up. I'm glad
that we made the time and hadthis enlightening conversation.
So thank you for
Joshua Adams (25:45):
being here, of
course, thanks for having me
again. It was nice to make thefull circle the last decade.
Robert Plank (25:51):
Heck yeah, feels
good. We'll have you back again
for circle number two. Let's doit. But what 910, years from
now? Heck yeah. I don't evenwant to calculate what the year.
Put it on the calendar. Put iton the calendar, put it on the
calendar now. Calendar. Now thetime will fly past. Thank you
for being
Joshua Adams (26:05):
yes sir all.