Book Review: Traction – Christy G

By Christy G. (Minneapolis, MN)

The book, Traction, is a fantastic resource for business owners (one person businesses and up) who want to understand the PROCESS side of their business. The tag line for the book is “get a grip on your business”, which is exactly what this book is written to help you do. Guiding you through a process to think through the stages of HOW a business works and apply that to your own business. Like many business books, you are thinking about the parts of your business: vision, marketing, plans, obstacles, etc. But the difference in this book, is thinking about these concepts from a SYSTEMS approach. This is invaluable and the glue that binds many concepts together. Many business owners have many of the ingredients of their business (vision, mission, goals, etc.) but struggle to know how to implement all the elements in a system that is sustainable. The traction concepts help to put it all together in a process that supports the owner to stay focused, clear and positioned to move forward.

The other concept that is naturally developed when you talk about process, is ROLES. This book helps to clarify and identify key roles and players on a business team, especially that of the business owner. Often a business owner is a visionary (idea person/leader) OR an integrator (implementer). This book helps to define the roles and how to make sure all tasks are covered and being addressed. A key part of addressing process and roles is uncovering areas of the business (i.e. marketing, finances, etc.) that are not being approached strategically and then redesigning and aligning them so they are proactive and effective pieces that support the direction and success of the company. While many elements in this book are well known by business owners, this book is an excellent road map to put all the pieces together and in perspective. I love this book as a tool to support business owners to understand, see and sync everyday business concepts in a way that will get your business some true TRACTION.