Certification Program

The Study Guide

The full method, module by module: how the CMG 360™ Assessment reads a business, scores it, sizes its market, and turns the result into a plan. This is your preparation for the certification exam.

Download the full study guide (PDF) ↓
Ten modules84 hoursCOMPASS™ · BEACON™ · the Bridge
The two engines

How the assessment reads a business

The inside read

COMPASS™

A 160-question diagnostic across seven domains, answered yes, no, or not applicable. Each question maps to a practice world-class companies have in place, so a domain score is really a count of how many the company has.

The outside read

BEACON™

A sourced read of the market the company actually competes in. It sizes the opportunity from the bottom up (TAM, SAM, SOM) and maps the competitive landscape, never fabricating a figure.

COMPASS™

Seven domains, one acronym

The letters of COMPASS are the seven domains, in order. A company is read across all seven, because it moves at the speed of its worst domain, not its best.

C
Cash & Capital
O
Operations & HR
M
Margins
P
Planning
A
Accounting
S
Sales
S
Systems
Reading the scores

Three bands, read by the floor

Each domain scores 0 to 100, the share of applicable questions answered yes. The band, not the exact number, is what an owner needs to hear, and the picture is read by its floor, not its average.

Weak
below 50 · a material gap; usually where the plan begins
Caution
50 to 69 · functional but trailing the standard
Strong
70 to 100 · at or near world-class for the field
What's inside

Ten modules

1
Introduction to the CMG 360™ Assessment
What it is, its parts, and why it matters
2
How the CMG 360™ Works
Process, integrity, AI consistency, and security
3
Random Excellence™
Why competence is uneven
4
Context-Aware Diagnostics™
How context and owner intent shape the reading
5
COMPASS™ Diagnostic
The seven domains, scoring, and benchmarking
6
BEACON™ Market Analysis
Market sizing and the competitive landscape
7
The CMG 360™ and the Bridge
Joining the reads and building the deliverable
8
Understanding the Output
Reading the report and acting on it
9
Industry Application
Worked examples across industries
10
Limitations & Professional Conduct
What it doesn't do, and the conduct required

Read the full study guide

Every module in depth, with tables, diagrams, review questions, a full FAQ, and an index. The complete preparation for the certification exam.

Download PDF ↓