Framework
Six Critical Questions
The heart of Discipline 2 — six questions the leadership team must answer together, with no contradictions, before clarity can cascade through the company.
Use this in a leadership offsite, quarterly reset, or whenever two execs describe the company differently to the same audience. Answer all six together — not in isolation.
The six questions
Why do we exist?
Core purpose — why the world would be worse off if you stopped. Not what you do, but why it matters.
How do we behave?
Core values as behaviours you will actually hire, promote and fire on — not aspirational wallpaper.
What do we do?
A simple, specific business definition every leader can repeat consistently.
How will we succeed?
Strategic anchors — the few fundamental choices that define how you compete or serve.
What is most important right now?
The rallying cry — one thematic goal for the next 3–12 months, not a list of five.
Who must do what?
Clear ownership at the leadership level — who owns which outcomes, decisions and metrics.
Failing to align on any one question prevents the clarity the organisation needs. Disagreement in the room is the point — contradiction in the hallway is the problem.
A common signal: two co-founders describe the company differently to the same investor within a week. That is rarely a comms problem — it usually means one or more of these six answers is still unsettled.
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