Book Review - Traction by Gino Wickman

I should start by saying that reading books isn’t my strong point. I read so slowly that I tend to forget what I’ve just read. So, last weekend, on my train ride to Liverpool, I decided to listen to the audiobook Traction by Gino Wickman.

Quick Stats:

📖 Book length: 6h 56m (perfect for my 7h 30m train journey!)
🎙 Narrator tone: Engaging—didn’t put me to sleep.
📑 Extras: A 30-page downloadable resource with visuals from the book.

Unlike many business books that offer small nuggets of wisdom but lack truly actionable strategies, Traction covers all major aspects of running a business. It provides a structured system for making your business run more smoothly. I don’t want to give too much away, but here are my main takeaways (yours may differ!):

Key Lessons from Traction:

✅ Core Values, Vision & Mission – Your team needs to know and embrace these; otherwise, how can they be embedded in your business?

✅ 10, 5, 3 & 1-Year Goals – If you don’t define where you're going, how will you get there?

✅ Clear Job Descriptions – From the top down, everyone should know their responsibilities.

✅ Quarterly Reviews & Rock Setting – Identify and focus on solving 3-7 key business issues each quarter.

✅ Scorecards – Track weekly business stats. (I’ve always been skeptical of KPIs, but without tracking, you won’t know if you're improving or hitting targets.)

✅ Weekly Team Meetings – Reduce daily interruptions, help your team solve problems independently, review scorecards, and take action in real-time instead of waiting for the end of a quarter.

Overall, I found Traction to be a practical and insightful guide for business owners looking to implement real change. If you want a framework to help your business run more efficiently, this book is definitely worth checking out.