The Workbook

Culture First Implementation System

A Workbook for the 9 Leadership Practices That Build Elite Teams

ISBN 979-8-9943454-2-9 · ASIN B0HH8MHYZB

The book explains the nine practices. The workbook is how you install them in your team.

The workbook is one half of the Culture First Implementation System (CFIS). The other half is the CFIS Online Tools.

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What It Is

FROM READING TO DOING

Each of the nine practices in Culture First contains multiple tools. For every tool, the workbook provides a 5+5 assessment: five statements about your individual leadership and five about your team's systems. Score yourself honestly, identify the gap, then work the exercises that follow.

The exercises are structured conversations, reflection prompts, and action-planning templates designed for a leader to work through alone or to facilitate with a team. Each one connects directly to a specific tool from the book, so you always know what you're building and why.

Who It's For

THREE WAYS TO USE IT

A Leader Working Alone

Work through the assessments and exercises on your own. Score yourself honestly, identify your weakest practices, and build a personal development plan before involving your team.

A Team Working Together

Run the workbook as a team. Each member takes the assessments individually, then you compare scores, discuss the gaps, and commit to specific changes together.

An Academy Running a Cohort

Use the workbook as curriculum for a leadership development program. Assign practices across sessions, facilitate group discussion, and track cohort-wide progress through the assessments.

Inside the Workbook

SAMPLE TOOL: 70 PERCENT IS CLOSE ENOUGH

Practice 7: Build a Decision Machine · Page 189

Page images placeholder

Jon supplies the actual page spread images here — showing the production quality of the printed workbook.

The Practice in Context

Sid Heal, legendary LASD-SEB commander, called it satisficing — the discipline of acting on enough information rather than all information. In tactical operations, waiting for certainty gets people killed. In business, it kills opportunity. The tool isn't about being reckless; it's about knowing when 70 percent is enough to move.

Hear Sid Heal on The Debrief → EP 02

For Leaders

Jeff Bezos draws the line between one-way doors (irreversible, go slow) and two-way doors (reversible, move fast). Most decisions are two-way doors — yet organizations treat them all as one-way and stall. This section helps you categorize the decision in front of you and act at the right speed.

Quick Assessment

Four Yes / No / Partially questions that diagnose whether you're holding out for certainty on decisions that don't require it. Score yourself before moving to the exercises.

The full assessment questions are in the workbook — this is the structure, not the content.

How to Start

Concrete first steps for a leader beginning to practice this tool. Not theory — actions you take this week.

Exercises

Two structured exercises with fill-in prompts. Designed to run with a team or work through alone. Each connects directly to the concepts from the book chapter.

The exercises themselves are in the workbook. This shows you the structure of what you're getting.

Watch Out For

The two failure modes of this tool: moving too fast on irreversible decisions, and using “we need more data” as a shield against accountability. Both are named and described so you can recognize them in your own behavior.

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Find Your Tool

Find Your Tool by What You Feel

Don't know which tool you need? Search the 45 tools by symptom — find the problem that sounds like your organization and turn to the tool beside it.

Browse All 45 Tools →
The Core Concept

Individual vs. Team — The Gap That Matters

Every CFIS assessment measures two dimensions separately: how you practice a behavior as a leader, and how well your team's systems reinforce that same behavior.

The gap between these two scores is where the real insight lives. If your individual score is much higher than your team score, you're modeling the right behavior but haven't built it into your team's DNA yet. If the team score is higher, the culture may be carrying you — and that's worth knowing too.

This is the principle at the heart of the workbook: culture isn't what you say, it's what your systems produce when you're not in the room.

What the Assessment Shows
Individual Score — Your personal leadership practice (out of 50)
Team Score — Your team’s systems and culture (out of 50)
Gap Analysis — Plain-language interpretation of the difference
Workbook Reference — Specific chapter and tool to revisit for improvement
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AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

ASIN: B0HH8MHYZB

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Start Here

Haven't Read the Book Yet?

The workbook is built on the nine practices from Culture First. Start with the book to understand the framework, then use the workbook to install it.

See the Book
Go Deeper

Take the Full Online Assessment

The workbook carries a quick 5+5 check for each tool. The online CFIS gives you expanded 20-question assessments with scored results, gap analysis, and team aggregation.

Explore CFIS