Alternative · Operating Methods

An alternative to Traction’s missing piece:
the argument

Traction by Gino Wickman lays out a complete operating system. SynthBoard is less an alternative to Traction than a board that fits inside the method — for self-implementers, and for the issues that arrive between quarterlies.

Start free See how it works

In short

No. Traction is a complete operating system with a meeting cadence, a vocabulary and a 90-day discipline. SynthBoard is a board that fits inside the method — for the issues that need a real argument, V/TO stress-tests and candidate rocks.

Last reviewed October 1, 2026

An example

One ask, start to finish.
What comes back is a memo.

How a board takes a call like this: her read, who sits, what they ask first, then the call — with how sure they are, who disagreed and the first step.

Operating Methods

Example · Board of 3

Which of our candidate rocks survives a panel debate — and which is a wish in disguise?

Chief of staff

This one needs a board: The CEO, The Operator and The Strategist. The CEO holds the through-line on company strategy and stakeholder trade-offs. Each researches alone first, then they react to one another — and on a decision, two of them take opposed sides.

The CEOChief Executive Officer
The OperatorCOO
The StrategistCompetitive Expert

Asked first

If you could do only one thing this quarter, is this it?

YesOne of twoProbably not

The board’s call

The candidate rock as written is a wish — too broad, no clear owner, 90-day completion implausible.

Rock specificity is the difference between commitment and aspiration. Two sequenced rocks beat one impossible one.

Confidence74 · Moderate

The Strategist disagreed

“The team will resist breaking the rock — frame it as accountability, not retreat”

First step Break it into two rocks: one for the structural decision (this quarter, owned by the COO), one for the rollout (next quarter, owned by the VP People).this week

Board of 3 · up to 135 credits on the card · an example, not a recorded run

Other asks people bring here

Several asks in one message become several rooms, each with its expert and its own price on the card. Keep or drop any, then convene them together.

How would a Traction-aligned panel run IDS on this issue? — The Operator, up to 85 credits
What is the steel-man case against the new accountability chart we are drafting? — The Strategist, up to 85 credits
Where is our V/TO leaning on yesterday's market assumptions? — The CFO, up to 85 credits

What you get

What she handles.
On this kind of call.

IDS, argued by a board

Identify, Discuss, Solve the Traction way, with opposed experts arguing the top issue from your L10.

A rocks-and-V/TO sounding board

Stress-test candidate rocks, V/TO updates and accountability charts before they reach the leadership team.

A memo for the next quarterly

Every board ends with a memo — the call, the dissent, a first move with a date — for the quarterly, implementer-led or self-led.

The board’s call

The candidate rock as written is a wish — too broad, no clear owner, 90-day completion implausible.

Confidence74 · Moderate

What would flip it

Sequence the rollout rock for next quarter, not later — keep momentum.

The Strategist disagreed

The team will resist breaking the rock — frame it as accountability, not retreat.

First step Break it into two rocks: one for the structural decision (this…this week

Why SynthBoard

Why SynthBoard for this.
Not one voice. A board.

Method-aligned, not method-replacing

SynthBoard fits inside the Traction system: IDS-shaped boards, V/TO stress-tests, rocks decisions.

Opposed experts, not just a meeting structure

Traction structures the meeting. A board structures the argument inside it — each expert researches alone, then reacts once to the others.

Between the quarterlies

Traction quarterlies happen four times a year. SynthBoard is there for the issues that land on the other 350 days.

Free to start vs an implementer day-rate

Free to start — 150 credits every month + 250 to start. Talking to your Chief of Staff costs nothing. Self-implementers can tighten the system without paying for facilitation.

Who sits

The experts for this call.
Each one holds a position.

Your Chief of Staff proposes who sits for the call, and every board is built with someone whose job is to argue against the obvious answer. Name an expert and they take a seat; tell her who you want on your board and they sit by default. How many seats a board has depends on your plan.

Chief Executive Officer

The CEO

Everything on this list is important. That’s the problem. Pick one, and say no to the rest.

The CEO Chief Executive Officer

Best on: Trade-offs between teams, priorities, and what to stop doing.
Won’t let you: Keep every option open until none of them is real.

Try asking The CEO

Start with

The CEOOpen on every plan, Free included

Pick an expert

Hover, tap or tab throughSwipe, then tap one

GPT
Claude
Gemini
Grok

Seats are spread across model families: GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and more.

In their words

Traction tells you when to meet. A board helps you decide what you actually decided.

The CEO Chief Executive OfficerThe CEO on what each layer is for

Questions

Fair questions.
Straight answers.

What people ask before they bring this call to a board.

Does SynthBoard replace the Traction method?

When should I use SynthBoard alongside Traction?

For IDS on the hardest L10 issues, candidate rocks before the quarterly, V/TO updates before the leadership team sees them, and issues that arrive between quarterlies and cannot wait three months.

Can I run Traction without an implementer and use SynthBoard?

Yes. The book is enough to run the system; an implementer adds facilitation and accountability. SynthBoard does not replace the implementer’s human role, but it raises the quality of the argument inside L10s and quarterlies.

When is the full Traction method still the right call?

Always, if the company is going to run it. Traction is the operating system; SynthBoard is a tool inside it. Whether to adopt Traction at all depends on company size and leadership maturity — read the book first.

How does the price compare?

Three different layers, three different costs. Free to start — 150 credits every month + 250 to start. Talking to your Chief of Staff costs nothing. A board shows its price on the card before it runs — up to 135 credits for a 3-seat board on Free — and a board never bills above its card. Paid plans are $20, $50 or $99 a month (1 credit = $0.01 USD). Traction is a book; an implementer runs $2k–$5k+ a day.

What does SynthBoard NOT do that the Traction method does?

No meeting structure, no shared leadership vocabulary, no 90-day rocks discipline, no V/TO template, no accountability chart, no scorecard. SynthBoard is a board that fits inside Traction; it is not the operating system.

SynthBoard (synthboard.ai) is one place for your business, your life, and every hard call. Your Chief of Staff keeps what you tell her on file, and 24 named experts on different AI models take the calls — one expert for a consult, a board with opposed seats for the hard ones — and hand back a memo with the call, the dissent and the first move. How it works.