Page 234 · Module 10, Lead Yourself First · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworksThree Horizons Vision
You oscillate between being too focused on today's execution and too lost in long-term
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace theseSwap the role below
Pro tip, from the book
The most common Three Horizons failure is treating H3 as a vision exercise and H1 as the only real work. H3 options are built through small, cheap bets made consistently over time. Amazon's AWS was an H3 bet in 2003 when their core H1 business was books. The value of H3 is not in the vision — it is in the options it creates.
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should challenge how you are leading yourself? Self-leadership is the hardest kind because the subject and the observer are the same person. The roles on this page are designed to give you perspectives you cannot generate from inside your own thinking — the mentor who has already made your mistakes, the coach who sees your patterns more clearly than you do, and the critic who wants you to win. Use them when clarity matters most.
Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solvesvision. Strategic planning sessions drift into fantasy. Daily operations crowd out anything beyond this week. You need a framework that holds all three time horizons at once.
How the framework works
From the printed pageMcKinsey's Three Horizons framework, developed in the late 1990s, organises strategic thinking across three simultaneous timeframes: Horizon 1 (12 months - defend and optimise your core business), Horizon 2 (1–3 years - develop and scale emerging opportunities), and Horizon 3 (3–5 years - create options for future growth). The framework does not suggest sequential attention - all three horizons require investment and attention simultaneously, in different proportions based on company stage. Applied personally, it becomes a powerful vision tool for founders designing their own trajectory.
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderMap your current allocation of time and energy across the three horizons most founders are trapped in H1.
H3 ideas require protection from H1 urgency, they will never survive if they must justify themselves on H1 metrics.
Build an H2 pipeline even when H1 is working well, H1 success is temporary without H2 in development.
Review your Three Horizons map quarterly, the business changes faster than annual reviews can track. Plan three futures simultaneously without losing the present
Where the framework comes from
McKinsey & Company — Three Horizons framework, Baghai, Coley & White, 1999
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 10 — Lead Yourself First
The company can only grow as fast as its founder.
11 frameworks, printed on pages 225–246.
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