ceos-vto

Review and update the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) — the single document that captures where your company is going and how it plans to get there.

When to Use

"Review our vision" or "show me the V/TO"
"Update our core values" or "change our 10-year target"
"What's our core focus?" or "what are our 3 uniques?"
"Are our Rocks aligned with the 1-Year Plan?"
"Let's update the 3-year picture"
Any time the leadership team needs to revisit strategic direction

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the .ceos marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

current_dir → parent → parent → ... until .ceos found

If .ceos is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

Sync before use: Once you find the CEOS root, run git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

File	Purpose
`data/vision.md`	The V/TO document (source of truth)
`data/accountability.md`	Who owns what (reference for role alignment)
`data/rocks/`	Current quarter's Rocks (for alignment checks)
`templates/vision.md`	Template structure (reference only)

V/TO Sections

The V/TO has 8 sections, each covering a different planning horizon:

Section	Horizon	Key Question
Core Values	Permanent	What do we stand for?
Core Focus	Permanent	Why do we exist? What's our niche?
10-Year Target	10 years	What's our big audacious goal?
Marketing Strategy	Ongoing	Who do we serve? How are we different?
3-Year Picture	3 years	What does the company look like?
1-Year Plan	1 year	What must be true in 12 months?
Quarterly Rocks	90 days	See `data/rocks/` (managed by ceos-rocks)
Issues List	Ongoing	See `data/issues/` (managed by ceos-ids)

Process

Step 1: Read the Current V/TO

Read data/vision.md from the CEOS repository root. If the file doesn't exist, tell the user to run setup.sh init first.

Display a summary of the current state:

Company name (from the document header)
Last updated date
Quick snapshot of each section (one line each)

Step 2: Identify the Request

User Intent	Action
"Review the V/TO"	Display full document, ask which sections to discuss
"Update [section]"	Jump to that section for editing
"Check alignment"	Cross-reference Rocks against 1-Year Plan
"What's our [specific item]?"	Read and present that section

Step 3: For Updates

When the user wants to change a section:

Show the current content of that section
Discuss the change — ask clarifying questions if the request is vague
Draft the update — write the new content
Show the diff — display before/after for the changed section
Ask for approval — "Does this look right? Apply this change?"
Write the file — update data/vision.md with the approved change
Update the date — change "Last updated" to today's date

Step 4: Alignment Check (Cross-Reference)

When reviewing the V/TO or when specifically asked about alignment:

Read the 1-Year Plan section from data/vision.md
Read all Rocks in data/rocks/[current-quarter]/
Compare: Does each Rock clearly support a 1-Year Plan goal?
Flag any misalignment:
- Rocks that don't map to any 1-Year Plan goal
- 1-Year Plan goals with no supporting Rocks
- Rocks that seem to contradict the Core Focus

Report findings clearly:

Alignment Check:
- 4/5 Rocks map to 1-Year Plan goals ✓
- Rock "Build Mobile App" doesn't connect to any 1-Year goal ⚠️
- 1-Year goal "Expand to 3 new markets" has no supporting Rock ⚠️

Step 5: After Changes

After any update:

Summarize what was changed
Suggest related actions (e.g., "You updated the 1-Year Plan — want to review Rock alignment?")
Remind the user to commit: "Run git commit to save this update"

Output Format

When displaying the V/TO, use the document's existing markdown structure. For updates, show a clear before/after diff of the changed section only (not the entire document).

For alignment checks, use the summary format shown in Step 4.

Guardrails

Always show diff before writing. Never modify data/vision.md without showing the user what will change and getting explicit approval.
Preserve existing structure. Don't reorganize sections or change formatting unless the user asks. The V/TO follows the EOS format — respect it.
Cross-reference when relevant. If the user updates the 1-Year Plan or Core Focus, proactively offer an alignment check against current Rocks.
Don't modify Rocks or Issues directly. The Quarterly Rocks and Issues List sections in the V/TO link to data/rocks/ and data/issues/. Direct the user to ceos-rocks or ceos-ids for those.
One section at a time. Don't try to rewrite the entire V/TO at once. Guide the user through focused updates.
Respect the planning horizons. Core Values and Core Focus should change rarely (annually at most). 10-Year Target shifts slowly. 3-Year Picture and 1-Year Plan are reviewed quarterly.
Don't auto-invoke other skills. Mention ceos-rocks, ceos-ids, and ceos-annual when relevant, but let the user decide when to switch workflows.
Sensitive data warning. On first use, remind the user: "The V/TO may contain sensitive strategic data. Use a private repo."

Integration Notes

Rocks (ceos-rocks)

Read: ceos-rocks reads the 1-Year Plan section from data/vision.md when setting Rocks to check alignment. Each Rock should connect to a 1-Year Plan goal.
Suggested flow: After updating the 1-Year Plan, suggest: "Want to check Rock alignment? Use ceos-rocks Tracking mode."

People Analyzer (ceos-people)

Read: ceos-people reads Core Values from data/vision.md to evaluate team members against the company's values.
Suggested flow: If Core Values are updated, mention: "Core Values changed — existing people evaluations may need refreshing via ceos-people."

Annual Planning (ceos-annual)

Read/Write: ceos-annual facilitates a full V/TO refresh during the annual planning session. The annual skill guides the team through updating each section.
Suggested flow: V/TO updates outside annual planning are fine for minor changes. Major strategic shifts should wait for the annual session.

Quarterly Conversations (ceos-quarterly)

Read: ceos-quarterly references V/TO goals during quarterly conversations to assess alignment between individual performance and company direction.

Write Principle

Only ceos-vto writes to data/vision.md. Other skills read it for reference (Core Values, 1-Year Plan, Core Focus). The annual planning session is the one structured time to do a full V/TO refresh, but ad-hoc updates via ceos-vto are appropriate for corrections and minor changes.