[No… Not Chest Compressions and Mouth-To-Mouth Resuscitation]

– A Simple Framework For Success That Begins With The End In Mind

CPR (Context, Purpose, Results), is a powerful 3-part framework that will help you achieve desired outcomes in any undertaking: building marketing system, finishing a marathon, hosting a successful event, completing a project, having a productive meeting, or any other meaningful endeavor.

This isn’t another new age, mumbo-jumbo, bogus acronym used by unimaginative corporations trying light a fire under their employee’s asses.

I’ve used this framework to keep teams together and get them through finish line under immense physical and psychological stress loads imposed by a menacing Navy SEAL trainer (hired to disrupt, create chaos and during group challenges).

We used to call these event “Man Camps” for lack of a more imaginative title. Essentially, they were leadership, teamwork and character development camps that used CPR as our framework for success.

CPR works great for rapidly bonding teams and creating standards by which each team member can be held accountable without you having to impose rules (which nobody likes).

By starting with the end in mind, or the “R” in CPR (RESULTS), you can reverse engineer your roadmap to success most effectively.

Esteemed author and thought leader, Simon Sinek would argue that you should “Start With Why”. The “Why” in CPR is represented by the “P” (PURPOSE).

However, I have found that starting with WHY is appropriate when defining a business or an individual’s reason for showing up to one of our 5-day team challenges, but not necessarily the case when building a marketing system (for example).

Finally, committing to a mindset or attitude you will keep while pursuing a goal (CONTEXT), is critical. Inevitably, the road will get rocky, you will lose sight of the forest for the trees (i.e., the grand vision for the obstacle before you) and you will want to abandon your mission.

I’ve seen this happen many times on our Team Building and Leadership courses. In fact, the challenges on our courses are designed to “break” teams and people of their CPR, which allows for “breakthroughs” and incremental wins that result in the big win.

The rain is pouring down profusely. You’ve already hiked 8miles through the dark night into the early morning. You’re soaked, tired, in pain and exhausted.

There is no telling how many more miles are left. Your next checkpoint is unbeknownst to everyone except or your menacing Navy SEAL instructor and the leader he has most recently assigned.

Your destination and arrival time are undefined.

And the wet bark from a 500lb log is working its way through your damp shirt and your shoulder skin. The friction is rubbing you raw as fire ants (resident to the log) periodically bite your neck.

Metaphysical tasks like building a high-converting marketing system can feel this way as well. You are going to want to quit at times, everyone does. That’ss when you use CPR.

[You can read the rest of the short story above at the bottom of this article. It is a true account of CPR in practice from our last adventure workshop in Hawaii. It may give you the chills as CPR, when put into a real-life context… can be life-changing]

Step 1—

In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey’s 2nd habit is “Begin With the End In Mind.”

Make a list of all the results you would like to obtain as a result of the activity. This list should be as rich, deep and varied as possible. Include things like “have fun, built trust and rapport with teammates, stay positive…” as well as the more obvious, concrete results that you seek “build a marketing system that generates 10 leads/day, build a sales team that closes $1M/yr.”

A couple of things to keep in mind when mapping your RESULTS: “Is it attainable? (is the result something that can happen as a result of the activity?); Is it measurable? (How do we know if we got it?)”

Step 2—

Make a clear statement of the PURPOSE of the activity. The purpose is a statement of the “WHY?” of the activity. It should be as broad and encompassing as possible—your big purpose, your visionor that of your organization.

Step 3—

Write a statement of your context for the activity. The CONTEXT is a statement you believe to be true or you wish to be true that contains all the results you wish to obtain. It is the state of mind or mindset that you bring to the activity; the place from which you operate.

Again, if things are not going your way— return to your context. Part of the “magic” of CPR’s is that by holding a CONTEXT large enough to contain all your results, the RESULTS are arrived at in a holistic way rather than linearly. The results, in turn will allow you to fulfill your PURPOSE (the big reason or WHY you are doing this in the first place).

—- A Real Life Example of CPR —-

“What’s going on Greg” – Me

“My knee is acting up again, these damn ants keep biting me, my shoulder skin is gone, I am exhausted, your Navy SEAL cousin is a sadistic asshole.” – Greg

“Ok, what do you want to do.” – Me

“I don’t know man. I think I might have to call it quits.” – Greg

“Got it. But, before you do. WHY did you decide to come on this course again? What is your PURPOSE here?” – Me

(I write down and memorize every team members personal CPR)

Pause…

“To become a better father to my children.” – Greg

Pause…
“Right. And what RESULTS did you say that you needed in order to become a better father?” – Me

Pause… and with reluctance-

“Build the habit of honoring my commitments, following-through and to quit making excuses that prevent me from getting the things that I really want in life, being the man that I want to be and that my family deserves.” – Greg

“And who do you have to be right now in order to get those results for you and your family? What is was the CONTEXT you committed to earlier, that will get you the RESULTS, that honor and server your PURPOSE (your family)?” – Me

Pause… and with even more reluctance, now knowing where this conversation is going-

“Fearless Leader, Never Give Up, Band of Brothers” – Greg (each team member commits to their own CPR for the entire trip, as well as the team CPR for each challenge)

“Who are those guys over there, cringing in the rain, one man down under the weight of that damn log, watching us talk right now?” – Me

“My Brothers” – Greg

“And what are we talking about?” – Me

“Giving Up” – Greg

“And who do you need to be by the end of this trip to make this investment of time and money worth it to you and your family?” – Me

“A fearless leader who doesn’t give up.” – Greg

“Ok. So what do you want to do?” – Me

Back under the log he goes!

POWERFUL FRAMEWORK HUH!?

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