Describe the future
Write a plain language picture of the practice you are building and the experience patients should have.
Project Compass Discipline 01 / 07
Clarify the destination.
Name what the practice is becoming, then use that direction to guide goals, priorities, and the choices the team makes each day.
See all seven disciplinesThe COMPASS sequence
What this letter means
Clarify the destination
A destination gives the practice a shared definition of success. It describes more than a production target: the kind of patient experience, team, and business the practice intends to build. When direction is clear, leaders can choose which opportunities fit and which distractions can wait.
Put it into practice
Make the idea part of the work.
Use these moves to turn the discipline into an operating habit your team can see and repeat.
Choose a small set of priorities
Connect the annual direction to a few measurable outcomes the team can remember.
Make tradeoffs visible
Use the destination to decide what to start, stop, continue, or defer.
From the Practice by Design series
Follow the idea through the books.
Book 1 introduces Project Compass by starting with direction. Book II develops the bridge from strategic intent to operating commitments. Book III applies the same discipline at enterprise scale: define the destination before choosing the growth path and operating model.
Book 1 · Practice by Design
Chapter 1
The Practice Is Not the Problem. The System Is.
Book II · From Practice to Enterprise
Chapter 35
Turn Strategic Planning Into Operating Commitments
Book III · Scaling to $100 Million and Beyond
Chapters 1 & 4
Define What $100 Million Actually Means · Design the Enterprise Operating Model