The Operating Cadence Playbook
The weekly, monthly, and quarterly rituals that separate companies that ship from companies that talk.
Strategy without cadence is theatre. The right operating cadence converts strategic intent into shipped outcomes — week after week, quarter after quarter. This playbook codifies the SAZ approach to building operating cadence in mid-market companies.
01 — Define the scorecard first
The cadence is built around the scorecard. Define the 5–10 KPIs that matter, with owners, targets, and update cadence. Without a clean scorecard, every meeting becomes a debate about which numbers to look at.
02 — Weekly: the operating review
A 60-minute meeting with the executive team. Standard agenda: scorecard delta vs. plan, top 3 risks, top 3 decisions needed, key wins. No status updates — surface gets in the way of substance.
03 — Monthly: the business review
A 2-hour meeting expanding the weekly. Trend review by function, customer outcome review, financial deep-dive, monthly OKR progress. Output: 1-page CEO update that goes to board and investors.
04 — Quarterly: the strategic review
A full-day off-site. OKR scoring, strategic plan refresh, capital allocation review, leadership team review. The forcing function that prevents strategic drift.
05 — Annual: the strategy week
A 5-day strategy week. Customer immersion, competitive deep-dive, financial baseline, strategy reset, next-year OKR cascade. The deeper investment that makes the next year of cadence productive.
06 — Decision rituals
Beyond the calendar cadence: decision rituals. Type 1 decisions (irreversible, high stakes): consensus + sleep on it. Type 2 decisions (reversible): one person decides in 24 hours. Most companies treat everything as Type 1 and move too slowly.
- Scorecard before cadence — always
- Weekly cadence is non-negotiable
- Quarterly cadence prevents strategic drift
- Annual strategy week is the highest-leverage 5 days of the year
- Decision rituals separate Type 1 from Type 2
Run the Operating Cadence with the SAZ team.
Email info@Sedighi.ca or call (604) 632-4959. Senior partner response within one business day.