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- 08 engines · one evidence model
- 02 arenas · francophone Europe / Africa
- Entry from 2 minutes · free, no account needed
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- Fees anchored to value at stake · never consultant days
- Every instrument published blank · 34 rows in the public register
LACAS · The legacy test
LACAS is a five-element test of what will still work after a CEO leaves: long-term projects, advantage (innovation on products, cost, services and business model), culture and people, AI, and shock readiness. Each element becomes a lead indicator and a budget line, reviewed beside EBIT every quarter.
What will still work after you leave, and are you building it this year?
When to use it
- When you prepare the next budget submission.
- In your first year in a top role, to put on record the baseline you will be judged against.
- Before a succession, a sale or an exit.
- At the annual strategy review, beside the EBIT plan.
The five elements
| Element | What it covers | The test question | A lead indicator that can pass SPARK (illustrative) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L | Long-term projects | Projects whose payback runs past your tenure: capacity, market entry, capabilities, transformation. Each tested against carbon cost and the regulations coming in. | If the market shifts, will our long-term projects pivot, or stay anchored to the past? | Long-term projects re-tested against future signals, not old assumptions |
| A | Advantage | Innovation on four levers: products, cost, services and business model, including lower-carbon and circular offers that customers pay for. | Does the business keep renewing its advantage without you, on products, cost, services and business model, faster than rivals can copy? | Advantage moves on the four levers, started and carried without the CEO |
| C | Culture and people | The leadership bench, succession, the way decisions get made when you are not in the room, and the safety and licence to operate that keep the business welcome where it works. | A deep bench of leaders, or a cult of personality? | Key roles with a successor who has already done the job |
| A | AI | AI that forecasts and is checked against results, built into key decisions. | Is AI a transformation and growth lever, sensing tomorrow, not just reading yesterday faster? | Key decisions built on AI forecasts, checked against results |
| S | Shock readiness | Critical processes stress-tested, recovery plans with owners, and the capacity to act while rivals retreat, including climate, energy and carbon-price shocks. | When a shock hits, do we just survive, or gain share? | Critical processes stress-tested, each with a bounce-back plan and an owner |
How it works
- Baseline. For each element, write today's state in one line and the evidence behind it. No evidence, no rating. Rate 1 to 5: 1 depends entirely on you, 3 works with your regular attention, 5 works without you.
- Lead indicator. Choose one per element. The gate: if you and your team cannot move it this quarter, it is a result.
- SPARK. Test each indicator. Fund only those that pass.
- Budget. One budget line per indicator, paid for with bad cost. Years 2 and 3 as ranges tied to the indicators.
- Rhythm. Review the five indicators beside EBIT every quarter. Each gets one status: on track, watch, or SPARK focus (the measure itself is re-tested).
Worked example (illustrative)
A mid-sized manufacturer with three plants. The CEO is in year two and preparing the next budget.
Show the underlying numbers
| Element | Baseline today | Rating | Lead indicator for next year |
|---|---|---|---|
| L | Two of five long-term projects re-tested against current demand signals | 2 | Long-term projects re-tested against future signals |
| A | Two product launches in two years; nothing on cost, services or business model; every idea signed off by the CEO | 2 | Advantage moves on at least three of the four levers, started by teams below the CEO |
| C | 3 of 12 key roles have a successor who has already done the job | 2 | Key roles with a successor who has done the job |
| A | AI used to produce monthly reports faster; no forecast checked against results | 1 | Key decisions built on AI forecasts, checked against results |
| S | Two critical processes tested against a supplier failure; nobody owns the recovery; no view of the carbon cost on EU-bound exports | 2 | Critical processes stress-tested, each with a bounce-back plan and an owner |
| Element | Baseline today | Rating | Lead indicator for next year |
|---|---|---|---|
| L | Two of five long-term projects re-tested against current demand signals | 2 | Long-term projects re-tested against future signals |
| A | Two product launches in two years; nothing on cost, services or business model; every idea signed off by the CEO | 2 | Advantage moves on at least three of the four levers, started by teams below the CEO |
| C | 3 of 12 key roles have a successor who has already done the job | 2 | Key roles with a successor who has done the job |
| A | AI used to produce monthly reports faster; no forecast checked against results | 1 | Key decisions built on AI forecasts, checked against results |
| S | Two critical processes tested against a supplier failure; nobody owns the recovery; no view of the carbon cost on EU-bound exports | 2 | Critical processes stress-tested, each with a bounce-back plan and an owner |
The reading. This year's EBIT can be strong on this baseline. The platform is not. The budget funds three moves first: successors for the four most exposed roles, one AI forecast checked against results each quarter, and an owner for each critical process's recovery. Closing duplicated reporting pays for them.
Common mistakes
- Counting effort as progress. AI spend, a succession plan on file, an innovation budget. They prove you bought something, not that it works without you.
- Building around yourself. If an element needs the CEO in the room to work, it rates low, however well it performs today.
- Paying for the platform with maintenance. Cutting maintenance lifts this year's EBIT and leaves the bill to your successor.
- Reading good years as proof. Strong years can hide luck. Judge the decisions as well as the outcome, in good years and bad.
- Reading advantage as product only. Cost, service and business model innovation count as much as a new product. Score all four levers.
- Keeping LACAS outside the budget. Without a budget line, it is a wish.
One-page template
One row per element: element, test question, baseline and evidence, rating 1 to 5, lead indicator, SPARK result, budget line, owner, quarterly status. Signed by the CEO and the CFO with the budget submission.
Download the template (PDF)What it builds on
- Collins and Porras (1994), Built to Last. Build the clock rather than tell the time, so the company keeps thriving beyond any single leader.
- McChesney, Covey and Huling (2012), The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Lead measures your team can move, tracked beside lag results.
- Fischhoff (1975); Baron and Hershey (1988). Hindsight and outcome bias, the reason the record must show decisions as well as results.
- Whelan, Atz, Van Holt and Clark (2021), NYU Stern and Rockefeller Asset Management. The link between sustainability and financial performance grows stronger over longer time horizons.
What LACAS adds. Five elements chosen for what survives a change of CEO, each with a test question, run as budget lines beside EBIT and paid for with bad cost.
Frequently asked questions
What does LACAS stand for?
Long-term projects, Advantage, Culture and people, AI, and Shock readiness. Advantage covers innovation on products, cost, services and business model.
What counts as advantage in LACAS?
Innovation on four levers: products, cost, services and business model. A business that renews only its products leaves the other three levers to its rivals.
Where does sustainability fit in LACAS?
Inside the elements it moves: lower-carbon products and cost in Advantage, carbon cost in Long-term projects, climate and carbon-price shocks in Shock readiness, safety and licence to operate in Culture and people. A sustainability indicator is funded only if it passes SPARK, like any other.
How is LACAS different from EBIT?
EBIT scores the year. LACAS records the platform that keeps delivering after you leave. Review both, side by side, every quarter.
How do you fund LACAS without hurting EBIT?
With bad cost: duplicated reporting, unused licences, complexity. Never with maintenance.
When should a CEO use LACAS?
Before a budget submission, in the first year in a top role, and before a succession, a sale or an exit.
© 2026 Bruno Hounkpati · Published by Stredge Partners with his permission · Free to use with attribution, without modification.
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