We have several major initiatives this quarter that require input from sales, operations, and finance, but we are struggling to assign them as Rocks without diluting accountability. How do we handle multi-departmental Rocks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

There is no such thing as a shared Rock. When more than one person is responsible for an outcome, nobody is responsible. Every Rock must have a single owner who is ultimately accountable for its completion. If an initiative requires collaboration across sales, operations, and finance, you must assign the primary Rock to the individual whose department is most impacted or who has the greatest capacity to drive it. That owner does not do all the work themselves. Instead, they act as the project manager for that specific priority. They are responsible for coordinating with the other departments, setting clear milestones, and raising issues during the weekly Level 10 Meeting™ if another team member is holding up progress. The other department heads can have individual milestones on their own departmental To-Do lists or sub-Rocks that support the main priority. For example, if the primary Rock is to roll out a new pricing structure, the finance seat might own the overall Rock, while the sales seat owns a supporting milestone to train the account managers. If the project fails, the primary owner is the one who answers for it. This clear line of accountability keeps everyone focused and prevents the finger-pointing that kills cross-functional projects.