The Method

Strategy you can score.
Delivery you can automate.

Two companion methods, forged over twenty-five years of campaigns, parliaments and AI deployment. The Triple Seven is the outward method – it gets you chosen. The Triple Eight is the inward method – it sets you free. Forty-five elements in all, each scored out of ten.

Everything starts with the 777 Score – free

“Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.”J.M. Barrie · Kirriemuir

First you name the star. Then you build the ship. Then you hold the course.

The Triple Seven names the star – where the business is going, and why anyone would follow it there. The Triple Eight builds the ship – so the crossing no longer depends on you standing at the wheel. The Compass holds the course – re-marked against your own baseline, quarter after quarter, so you stay pointed at the star you named.

Sevens get you chosen. Eights set you free.

Phase one · The outward method

The Triple Seven Methodgetting you chosen

Three pillars, twenty-one elements, one number out of 210. This is the naming of the star: what your business actually does, whose hero’s journey it serves, why buyers choose it on purpose, and how devotion is built until customers bring the next customers themselves – all of it measured, so money follows evidence.

Pillar one · Measure

The 7Es – what the work achieves

Every piece of content and every activity serves a named strategic purpose, or it doesn’t happen. So money stops following habit and starts following evidence – and every weak spot is surfaced.

ElementPurposeState change
EngageCapture attention, create awarenessUnaware → Aware
EnthuseGenerate emotional momentumInterested → Excited
EducateTransfer knowledge, build understandingUninformed → Informed
EmpowerEnable action, provide toolsPassive → Active
ElevateReinforce prestige, build authorityConsumer → Advocate
EchoStimulate sharing and advocacyAdvocate → Ambassador
EvaluateMeasure, learn, refineInsight → Optimisation
Pillar two · Narrate

The 7Ss – how the story is told

“There’s a Story of someone facing a Struggle with real Stakes. A Sage offers a Solution and issues a Summons. The result is Shift.” The customer is the hero, always – so buyers stop finding you interchangeable and start choosing you on purpose.

ElementPurposeState change
StoryThe hero’s ordinary world – your customer and their current realityStranger → Recognised
StruggleName the conflict – the problem, villain or obstacle they faceVague → Named
StakesWhat’s at risk – the cost of action or inactionOptional → Urgent
SageThe brand as trusted guide – empathy plus authoritySceptical → Trusting
SolutionThe plan – the product, service or pathway offeredConfused → Clear
SummonsThe call to action – the clear, compelling next stepConsidering → Committed
ShiftThe transformation – the new identity, demonstratedUnchanged → Transformed
Pillar three · Cultivate

The 7Cs – how devotion is built

Brand devotion follows the dynamics of belonging. The 7Cs build believers, not just customers – people who buy again, and who bring you the next customer without being asked.

ElementPurposeState change
CallingIdentify the alienated – find who feels different and call specifically to themAlienated → Called
ContrastDeclare difference – separate from the status quo; principles, never named peopleInterchangeable → Apart
ConnectionEnable human bonds – people buy people before they buy ideasAlone → Known
CongregationCreate gathering places – physical and virtual spaces for membersScattered → Gathered
CreedEstablish beliefs – a clear, documented meaning systemUnspoken → Believed
CommitmentFoster mutual investment – a graduated ladder of two-way exchangeCasual → Invested
ConversionEnable multiplication – equip members to recruit othersMember → Evangelist
Phase two · The inward method

The Triple Eight Methodsetting you free

Three pillars, twenty-four elements, one number out of 240. With the star named, this is the building of the ship: the business honestly seen, deliberately redesigned, then carried by machines your own people command – until it sails without you at the wheel. Its opening question is the Holiday Test: could you leave for three months and the business not suffer? Its doctrine is that we automate last – question, delete, simplify, then and only then hand it to machines. Automation is capacity, never redundancy: the same team, with the hours bought back.

Pillar one · Exploration

The 8Ps – the honest look

The whole business honestly seen, person by person, before a single thing is changed. The real position lives with the team, not the owner’s summary.

ElementPurposeState change
PositionWrite down where the business stands today – and what breaks without the ownerAssumed → Established
PeopleAsk everyone, individually, about the work they actually doOwner-only → Whole team enrolled
PromiseTell the team plainly: systemising means freed hours, never fewer jobsGuarded → Candid
PracticeCapture the observed reality of each day, not the job descriptionDescribed → Observed
PainsName the repetitive load each person hates, counted in hoursHidden → Named
ProtectRing-fence the judgement only a person can doBlurred → Protected
PurposeHear what each person wants from their role and careerUnasked → Heard
PictureAgree one map of who does what, confirmed by the teamFragments → Agreed diagnosis
Pillar two · Transformation

The 8Ts – the redesign

Delete before you design, simplify what survives, then draw the human-plus-bot operation with roles evolved and costed. Nothing gets built until its paper trail and its price exist.

ElementPurposeState change
TargetAgree the end-state in writing, as an outcome – not a list of toolsVague brief → Agreed outcome
TrimDelete steps and tasks before automating anythingInherited steps → Deleted
TightenSimplify and speed the survivors before any machine touches themLong-winded → Simplified and fast
TeamingDesign people plus bots: what a machine drafts, what a human approvesPeople or bots → People plus bots
TrustMake the redesign visibly for the team, not done to themSprung on → Believed
TransposeRewrite roles around the judgement work – evolved, never cutSame role → Evolved role
TailorWrite prompts, playbooks and procedures for this businessGeneric → Bespoke operating manual
TallyCost the build in your own numbers, gated in stagesHope → Costed, gated plan
Pillar three · Automation

The 8As – the machines

Build only what survived the Tally, on your own accounts, governed before go-live. The judgement stays human. Proved, finally, by a real documented owner absence.

ElementPurposeState change
AutomateReal, repeatable work carried by machines – not experimentsManual → Automated
AcquireNew business arrives and is followed up without the owner chasingOwner-as-rainmaker → Self-running funnel
AttuneOne clean source of truth – nobody re-checks the numbers by handNoise → Clean signal
AssureA human approves before it matters; an audit trail existsExposed → Governed
AdoptThe new ways of working stick – habitual, not enthusiast-onlyPiloted → Embedded
AdvanceMeasured against baseline on a schedule; what underperforms changesStatic → Compounding
AscendSystems improve as the models improve, without rebuildingFixed to one model → Rising with the models
AutonomyThe business passes a real absence test – the log shows what ran cleanNeeds you → Runs without you

The instruments

Two numbers.
Both free.

The Triple Seven scores out of 210 – 175 or above is exceptional, below 105 means foundations first. The Triple Eight scores out of 240 – 200 or above is exceptional, below 120 means foundations first. Together, forty-five elements out of 450. Self-assess each free, in ten honest minutes.

Get your 777 score – free

Then the Holiday Test – the inward companion