Methodology

How an Execution Growth Partner project actually runs.

We run scoped projects, not retainers. The operating principles below are what make that work without quiet drift, hidden hours, or junior teams running the engagement.

  • One-page scoping document, signed before kickoff
  • Fixed fee, fixed timeline, fixed working group
  • Working sessions, not gated reviews
  • Clean exit at the end, with a written handoff
Discuss a Project See Engagements

A short read, by design. Most of the methodology is the discipline of saying no to drift.

Quick Answer

The Execution Growth Partner methodology is built around scoped projects with a fixed fee, fixed timeline, and a defined working group. We diagnose before we recommend, work in shared sessions rather than gated review meetings, and end every engagement with a clean handoff. The discipline is in the constraints, not in a proprietary framework.

The operating principles.

Six rules we hold ourselves to on every engagement.

Diagnose before recommending

The first deliverable on any engagement is a written read of the actual problem. Recommendations come after, never before, the diagnosis is on paper.

One-page scoping

Deliverables, fee, timeline, working group, and what is explicitly out of scope. If it does not fit on a page, the engagement is not scoped tightly enough.

Working sessions, not theater

The work happens in shared sessions with your team. You see drafts as they form. The final read is a confirmation, not a reveal.

Senior on every call

Brian and Deane run the engagement. There is no junior team in the room learning on your project. There is no associate running the working group.

Honest reads, even uncomfortable

If the answer is that you do not have a project here, we will say so on the discovery call. If the answer is that the real fix is not what you asked for, we will say so in the scoping document.

Clean exit

Engagements end at the date in the scoping document. If a follow-on project is right, we scope it on its own. If not, we step away.

The shape of an engagement.

Six steps, the same on every project.

  1. Discovery call

    Thirty to sixty minutes. We hear the problem behind the problem. We sketch a possible shape. We tell you whether there is a real project here at all.

  2. Scoping document

    One page. Deliverables, working sessions, timeline, fee, working group, and what is explicitly out of scope. You sign or you do not. We do not negotiate the page into a maze.

  3. Kickoff and access

    We set up access to the systems and people we need. We do not ask for what we do not need. The kickoff confirms decision rights and reporting cadence.

  4. Working sessions

    Two to six working sessions across the engagement, depending on scope. The work product forms in front of your team rather than behind a closed door.

  5. Final read

    A working session with leadership to walk through the finished work and answer hard questions while we still have the full context loaded.

  6. Handoff and exit

    Written handoff document, two-week question window, then the engagement ends. If a follow-on is right, it is a separate scope.

Why scoped projects.

Open-ended retainers are great for the firm and risky for the client. They reward extending the engagement and punish finishing it. We have run them from both sides, and we built EGP to avoid that loop.

Scoped projects force us to be clear about the deliverable. Clear deliverables force the work to be useful. Useful work earns the next project on its merits, not on inertia.

What we will tell you on a discovery call.

  • Whether the project shape you described is the real project
  • Whether two senior operators is the right shape, or whether one is enough
  • Whether your existing fractional or in-house team can run this without us
  • What the scoping document would likely say if we wrote it tomorrow

What is in a one-page scoping document.

No mystery. Here is the structure we use on every engagement.

1

Problem statement, in your team's words

2

Deliverables, named explicitly

3

Timeline with key working sessions

4

Fee, working group, and out-of-scope

If this fits how you want to work, talk to us.

The discovery call is the only commitment up front.

Discuss a Project See Engagements

Execution Growth Partner · Midlothian, Virginia · National engagements