Our leadership team frequently sets highly ambitious quarterly Rocks, but we consistently struggle to get them completely finished by our quarterly session. How do we establish a clear and objective definition of done for our Rocks to eliminate this pattern?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The primary reason Rocks do not get finished is because they are poorly defined at the start of the quarter. Teams often set vague, activity-based Rocks like improve customer onboarding or research marketing tools. Because these lack a clear endpoint, the leader gets ninety percent of the way there and calls it a success, which is an operational failure.

To fix this, you must apply a rigorous, objective definition of done when setting Rocks during your quarterly planning session. A finished Rock is not an activity; it is a completed milestone that is binary. It is either one hundred percent complete or it is incomplete. There is no middle ground.

When a Rock is proposed, the owner must define the exact, measurable criteria for completion. For example, instead of write new sales script, the Rock should be written sales script approved by the leadership team, uploaded to our shared drive, and used in ten actual customer calls with documented feedback. This leaves zero room for subjective interpretation at the end of the quarter.

Additionally, you must evaluate the conative profiles of the Rock owners. If you have an initiating Quick Start who loves launching new projects but has low Follow Thru on their Kolbe A Profile, they will naturally struggle with the final execution steps. Pair them with a team member who has high Follow Thru to assist with the closing details, or scale the Rock back so it is realistic for their natural working style. By combining objective completion criteria with conative awareness, you will break the habit of almost-finished Rocks.