Non-Linear Growth Using Velocity Work's Aim, Plan, Honor Framework

Your future isn't something you stumble into, it's something you build on purpose. In the last 2 episodes, we unpacked Dr. Benjamin Hardy's framework: Frame, Floor, and Focus. And today, I'm showing you how those same principles live inside Velocity Work's Aim, Plan, Honor process, the way that we help law firm owners get crystal clear on their future, raise their standards, and lock in priorities that move them forward right away.

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, powered by Velocity Work, for owners who want to grow a firm that gives them the life they want. Get crystal clear on where you're going, take planning seriously, and honor your plan like a pro. This is the work that creates Velocity.

Welcome back. If you're new here, Velocity Work helps law firm owners grow smarter, not just bigger, by creating clarity about your future, developing a deliberate plan to get there, and building the accountability and discipline it takes to follow through. After working with hundreds of private practice owners, I have learned that there are 3 things that matter the most, and it's like a 3-legged stool. If one leg is missing, the whole thing tips over.

First, you have to know exactly what you're aiming for: crystal clear clarity on your future. Second, you need a well-thought-out, deliberate plan to get there. And third, you have to honor that plan. We call this our Aim, Plan, Honor framework. But before any of that can happen, you need a solid understanding of what is really going on under the hood of your firm.

And here's where today's episode comes in. What we do at Velocity Work aligns directly with what Dr. Hardy teaches in The Science of Scaling. His framework is Frame, Floor, Focus. Ours is Aim, Plan, Honor. Different words, but the same philosophy is baked in.

So today, I'm going to show you exactly how these two frameworks map to one another so that you can see how the principles that Hardy outlines are embodied in the work that we do with our clients.

The foundation. Okay, first things first, and I talked about this in the science of scaling episodes that we just wrapped. Before you focus on strategic growth, you need a factual picture of the current state of your business. And that's why every client we work with starts with our foundation engagement.

It's a short-term, about 2 to 3 months, but it's deep. We roll up our sleeves for a full discovery audit and analysis of your firm. We get to dig into the numbers, your team structure, your profitability. We look into your vision, your concerns, your frustrations, your ambitions. We look at the inefficiencies that you see and the software and tools that you use. And by the end, we often understand our client's firms better than they do because we've connected the dots between the facts and the lived reality.

And the beauty is this: we help you understand your firm in ways you've never seen before. It is our job to meet you where you are and show you what you need to see so you can move forward with clarity.

In Hardy's framework, the first piece is Frame. In ours, the first piece is Aim. And really, they're the same thing. Both are about setting a big, clear target for your firm, a big, clear target for your future. So when we guide clients through Aim, we're doing exactly what Hardy prescribes in Frame. We don't just define a number to shoot for; we surround it with qualitative substance: vision, culture, impact, values, profit targets.

For example, a firm aiming for $2 million in annual revenue with a solid culture, an excellent client experience, a team that loves working there, and a profit margin that's been intentionally chosen. That's Aim, and that's Frame. Different words, same philosophy.

One thing I learned from Hardy is that he uses the terms goal and future interchangeably, and now we do too. Future, aim, goal, they're all synonymous, and I encourage you to use them interchangeably as you think and you speak, because it keeps you connected to what you are building.

For example, you might say, "Our goal is to reach $2 million in revenue with a solid culture." Or you could say, "The future we're building is a $2 million firm with a solid culture." Same target, same condition. One is framed as a goal, and the other is framed as a future, and they each hit a little differently.

Okay, now let's move on to the second element in Hardy's framework: the floor. The floor is the minimum standard, the line you refuse to drop below. In our framework, the floor is determined in the plan portion of our framework because you can't build a solid plan without knowing what falls below your floor.

Historically, we've been able to spot below-the-floor issues because we understand the current state of the firm and we know with clarity where the client wants to go through our work. And that contrast makes it obvious what can't be a part of the picture in order to get from here to there.

Now, thanks to Hardy's framing, we've made this a deliberate part of the process, and it adds a ton of clarity to the client experience. During the strategic planning retreat, we talk directly about what falls below the floor. These are things that simply cannot come with you into your future. It might be discounting. It might be team members who don't rise to standards, even after those standards have been clearly set and they've had a fair chance. Or it might be a certain case type that consistently drags down profitability or morale.

Here's a client story to paint a picture. One of our clients was navigating a really tough decision. She had a team member who wasn't meeting standards performance-wise, but also standards tied to her firm's core values and ownership of results. And on paper, after the expectations were reset, performance had improved, but the deeper problem was that the person still wasn't assuming true accountability. There were excuses, there was an attitude problem, and by definition, that's below the floor.

Through Voxer, which is our real-time asynchronous communication app we use with some of our private clients, we supported her through the decision on how to move forward, and we reminded her that this is protecting, this is about protecting both her vision, which is her frame, and her standards, which is her floor. She had been clear. She had given opportunities, but the bigger gaps remained, and in the end, it came down to making the hard call of letting this team member go, a decision that ultimately served her, her vision, her team, and ultimately, her clients. That's the floor.

Here at Velocity Work, it's determined in the plan portion of our framework, and it is crucial.

The third element in Hardy's framework is Focus, and focus is also determined in the plan portion of our work. In Hardy's terms, focus is about identifying the few most strategic priorities. Inside of Velocity Work's framework, we identify those priorities during the strategic planning retreat, which is a part of every engagement we have with any client we work with. These priorities, sometimes called rocks, if you're familiar with that term, are the levers you pull to make your bigger goals inevitable.

Each quarter, we pick 3 to 5 non-negotiables, and we assign clear owners, and progress is relentlessly tracked. To give you an idea, here's a few examples of what strategic priorities could look like. Number one, develop and implement a new intake team structure. Number two, hire an associate. Number three, cut an unprofitable case type.

This is Focus, and we help you articulate your focus in the planning phase of Aim, Plan, Honor.

And then we come to Honor. Honor isn't specifically called out in Hardy's framework, but it's absolutely assumed because without it, the whole thing falls apart. In Aim, Plan, Honor, Honor is all about holding the focus. It's one thing to choose priorities; it's another thing entirely to see them through. Honor is the discipline of doing what you said you'd do. It's where accountability lives. And if you'll remember, Hardy says the difference between a pro and an amateur isn't talent, it's accountability. And not just external accountability, but internal accountability.

That's why we keep the conversation alive all quarter long in calls, in Voxer, asking questions like, "How's it going? Where are you stuck? What's the barriers? What's the wins?" This is what keeps priorities from dying in a drawer when day-to-day chaos hits. It's the difference between good intentions and actual follow-through. That's Honor. Honoring your plan is what brings your vision and your plans to life.

Okay, let's recap. First, and the order matters here, understanding what's under the hood of your business for real, which allows you to move through any sort of growth framework and create a solid, sustainable future. Second, Aim, which maps to Hardy's Frame. This is where you define your future. Third is Plan. And inside of the planning portion of our framework, two key pieces of Hardy's framework are taken care of. The first is raising your floor, raising your standards, and the second is Focus, committing to the few priorities that matter the most. And finally, Honor. This is following through with discipline and accountability. It is honoring your plan.

Let's run a quick litmus test for the health of your business. First, do you really understand what's under the hood of your business? And I'm talking about facts. Where are you not organized inside of your firm in the ways you know you should be? Where are the inefficiencies? Your data, the numbers that really matter, like your people cost percentage, your profit margin, your producer ROI. Do you know those with clarity? And that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to numbers and to data.

And then your team, who reports to who, who owns what, and whether your team is structured around the things that actually foster an amazing culture. These are all examples of things that, if you don't know them with clarity, they reveal weakness in your foundation, and that weakness will prevent any sustainable progress. So again, do you really understand what's under the hood of your business? If not, nothing beyond this point really makes sense. But if yes, great, we can continue on.

So, second, do you have clarity about the future you are working towards? If you do not, that is an aim problem. In Hardy's language, that's a frame problem. If you understand the current state of your business, what's under the hood, and you have clarity about your future, then the next question is this: can you name the 3 most important things that your firm needs to focus on right now to get you to your frame, to get you to your goal? If you've said yes to the first 2 questions, but you cannot answer this one with confidence, that's a planning problem.

And finally, if you've said yes all the way through so far, then the last question becomes, will you actually execute those priorities to completion in the next 90 days? And if not, that's an execution problem, and that's exactly what Honor in our framework is all about: holding your focus and following through.

At Velocity Work, our framework helps clients solve for all of this: a deep understanding of the current state of the firm, plus Aim, Plan, and Honor. And if you can't say yes all the way through this litmus test, you are not really leading a firm; you're working a job.

But here's the thing, there's no judgment in where you are right now. This is about clarity, not criticism. We love meeting people exactly where they are and then helping them bridge the gap from here to where they want to be. That's the work we do. We work with firms of all sizes and at all stages in the journey.

If you want to talk about all of this in the context of your firm, we do a free consult for anyone. It's free, it's time well spent, and it's like getting a private podcast about your firm for 40 minutes. It's not a sales call. It's a call to see if there is a right fit, and any decision to work together is super mutual. Also, by the way, this is the perfect time of year to be thinking about your firm in these ways. The link is in the show notes if you want to schedule a consult, or you can head to velocitywork.com, click "Work with Us," and you can get started there.

All right, I'll see you here next Tuesday.

Hey, you may not know this, but there's a free guide for a process I teach called Monday Map Friday Wrap. If you go to velocitywork.com, it's all yours. It's about how to plan your time and honor your plans so that week over week, more work that moves the needle is getting done in less time. Go to velocitywork.com to get your free copy.

Thank you for listening to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. If you're ready to get clearer on your vision, data, and mindset, then head over to VelocityWork.com where you can plug in to quarterly Strategic Planning, with accountability and coaching in between. This is the work that creates Velocity.