Goal Tracker Inspired by Traction by Gino Wickman

As an executive who thrives on clarity, consistency, and execution, I’ve read my fair share of business books. But few have had the lasting operational impact that Traction by Gino Wickman has had on my teams.

If you’re unfamiliar, Traction introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a framework that helps leadership teams define their vision, gain traction, and build healthy organizations. Two concepts stood out to me most as a COO: the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) and the Level 10 meeting cadence.

But even after you’ve read the book and bought in, the hard part is putting these tools into practice consistently and tracking them in a way that sticks.

That’s why I built a simple, scalable Traction Tracker in Excel. It bridges the gap between strategy and execution, especially for growing teams that don’t want to adopt another platform or SaaS subscription just to manage EOS.

Here’s how it works and why these concepts matter so much.

The Vision/Traction Organizer: EOS in a Nutshell

In the book, Gino Wickman presents the V/TO as a one-page strategic plan. It answers:

• What is your 10-year target?
• Where do you want to be in 3 years?
• What is the 1-year plan to get there?
• And what are the quarterly rocks or your big priorities that will move you forward?

It’s deceptively simple. But if you’ve ever been part of a company that lacked alignment between departments or changed course every few months, you know how valuable this clarity can be.

As COO, I often see vision documents collecting dust in Google Drive folders. Or worse, only the leadership team sees them. What’s powerful about the V/TO isn’t just the exercise of filling it out, but the visibility and repetition of it throughout the organization.

That’s why I designed my Excel tracker to mirror this structure and make it usable every single day.

What My Excel Traction Tool Tracks

My Excel-based tool puts the entire V/TO into one interactive workspace:

10-Year Vision

Set your North Star and keep it visible. This long-term view drives alignment and ambition.

3-Year Picture

Describe what success looks like in more detail—revenue targets, team size, key milestones.

1-Year Plan

List your top company goals for the year. These shape the quarterly rocks that follow.

Quarterly Rocks by Department

This is where the tool really shines. Each department has a dedicated section to set, update, and track rocks. No more guessing what’s been prioritized.

With built-in fields for ownership, status updates, and progress tracking, the tool becomes a living document, not a forgotten slide deck.

Level 10 Meetings: Turning Strategy Into Weekly Execution

The second Traction tool I’ve fully embraced is the Level 10 Meeting.

Held weekly by each team, this structured 90-minute meeting includes:

1. A check-in
2. Reviewing the scorecard
3. Reviewing rocks
4. Solving issues
5. Sharing customer and employee headlines
6. To-do list review

What makes this different from a standard team meeting? It’s rhythmic, focused on solving real problems, and ruthlessly efficient.

But here’s the catch: Level 10 meetings are only as effective as the tools you use to track rocks and scorecards.

With my Excel tracker, department leaders can pull up their rocks and statuses during the meeting, instantly see what’s off track, and record updates in real time. It becomes both a weekly guide and an accountability tool with no separate software required.

Why Excel Instead of EOS Software?

EOS offers tools like Ninety.io or Traction Tools, great platforms, but they come with subscription costs and learning curves. For many small- to mid-sized teams, Excel is already part of their workflow. And honestly? It works.

My Excel Traction Tracker is:

• Familiar – Everyone knows how to use a spreadsheet
• Flexible – You can customize it by department, goals, or even terminology
• Visible – Share via cloud storage or embed in meetings
• Cost-effective – No monthly fee, no logins, no integrations to manage

In many ways, it lowers the barrier to getting EOS up and running especially in the early stages of implementation.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Let’s say your marketing team has three quarterly rocks:

1. Launch new website
2. Build content calendar through Q2
3. Increase newsletter open rate by 15%

Each rock is added to the department section of the Excel tracker, with a due date and rock owner. During the weekly Level 10 meeting, the team pulls up the sheet and updates the status: On Track, At Risk, Off Track.

If something’s stuck, it gets added to the IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) list right then.

By the end of the quarter, you’ve got a clear picture of what was accomplished and what needs to roll forward or be reconsidered.

Multiply that across product, operations, sales, and finance and you’ve got company-wide visibility and accountability without another system.

Final Thoughts: COO-Approved, Vision-Aligned

Traction gives us the playbook to run better businesses. But implementation is where the rubber meets the road.

From my COO seat, the magic isn’t in the V/TO or the Level 10 meeting by themselves. It’s in making them operational, visible, measurable, and habitual. That’s what this Excel tracker is designed to do.

If you’re using EOS or just want to clarify your goals, stay focused, and run more effective meetings this tool is built for you.

👉 Get the Excel Traction Tracker now and start turning vision into execution, one rock at a time.