Drawing on military leadership knowledge and personal experience, 5 to 50 to 500 introduces The Business Navigation Framework™, designed to create the conditions for organizational scalability. To be scalable, organizations need to navigate toward an end state using an intent based decision-making and action-enabling framework. Scalability is not about resources, it's about an adaptability mindset. Organizations are complex organic living systems that can adapt and grow. Developing and sustaining adaptive capacity in organizations is the main job of a leader preparing to scale. The Business Navigation Framework™ was developed to provide leaders with practical knowledge and tools to create adaptive capacity.

The four disciplines of the framework answer specific questions for which a leader must provide an answer:

• The Strategic Intent discipline answers the question "Is the intended destination clear?" It provides the what and the why, clarifies market strategy, value creation model, desired end state as well as an answer to employees who ask, "What's in it for me?"
• The Behavioral Fit discipline answers the question "Is your organization behaviorally balanced?" If we believe that behavior drives people and people drive business, then we should make sure we understand behavior and use it to our own advantage.
• The Tactical Readiness discipline answers the question "Is your organization ready to act, adapt and learn?" It talks about sustaining adaptability habits using time awareness, language, and rituals.
• The Real-Time Navigation discipline answers the question "Can your organization track progress?" It demonstrates how, in the Information Age, you can provide real-time information to create situational awareness to guide day-to-day operations.