Are there any good books I should read that would help me understand how Viking operates?

Yes! There are a select group of books which have helped form the core of Viking’s operating philosophy.

Traction

Traction, by Gino Wickman, describes the foundations of the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) which we have white-labeled internally as the Viking Operating System (VOS).

This is the source of many of the unique terms you may heard in use at Viking, including the Level 10 Meeting, the Identify-Discuss-Solve (IDS) method of quickly addressing issues, and the Accountability Chart which shows who is responsible for each function at Viking.

Good to Great

Good to Great, by Jim Collins, is a classic of Business Management and has helped shaped the thinking of the executive team.

Radical Candor

Radical Candor addresses the problems that arise when people are not fully honest regarding their expectations of one another, and hold back from telling people how they really feel about their performance.

Telling people they’re not doing the best job is hard – really hard. But it is absolutely essential to building a great business, and it goes both ways. Radical Candor with your boss is just as important as with your direct reports.