Scaling Up
The One-Page Strategic Plan (Rockefeller Habits)
Verne Harnish’s system for growth: align People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash on one page.
Scaling Up organizes a growing company around four decisions — People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash — and captures the strategy on a single One-Page Strategic Plan that zooms from a 10–25 year ambition down to this quarter’s priorities.
Its discipline is rhythm: a long-term BHAG anchored to annual and quarterly priorities, reviewed in a steady meeting cadence so the plan stays alive.
From Verne Harnish’s books "Scaling Up" and "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits".
The Scaling Up template
Core Purpose & Values
Why the company exists and the values that never change.
BHAG (10–25 yr)
The Big Hairy Audacious Goal — the long-term summit.
3–5 Year Targets
The mid-term picture: revenue, key capabilities, and markets.
Annual Priorities
The 3–5 goals for the year and the key number to hit.
Quarterly Rocks
The 3–5 most important priorities for the next 90 days, with owners.
A worked example
Throughline is framework-agnostic — bring your Scaling Up straight in and it becomes a living plan: priorities cascade to your team, progress flows back up, and when something changes the whole plan adjusts.
Build your Scaling Up in Throughline — freeFrequently asked questions
- What are the four decisions in Scaling Up?
- People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. Harnish argues every scaling company must get all four right — talent, a differentiated strategy, disciplined execution, and the cash to fuel growth.
- What is a BHAG?
- A Big Hairy Audacious Goal — a clear, compelling 10–25 year ambition that gives the company a long-term summit to climb toward. The term comes from Jim Collins.
- How is Scaling Up different from EOS?
- Both give small and mid-sized companies an operating system with a quarterly rhythm. Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits) is more metrics- and cash-intensive; EOS (Traction) is lighter and simpler. Teams usually pick one.