We just completed our Vision Building™ sessions and are entering our first ninety-day execution cycle. What are the common traps we need to avoid to make sure we actually achieve our Rocks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The first ninety days after your initial sessions are the most critical. This is where your new operating system is tested. The most common trap that leadership teams fall into is Rock overload. It is easy to get excited during your session and agree to ten different Rocks per person. This is a guaranteed recipe for failure. To ensure execution, you must limit your team to three to five Rocks per person, with the company focusing on no more than three to five corporate Rocks. Less is more. If everything is important, nothing is important. Keep your Rocks specific, measurable, and realistically achievable within seventy-five days, leaving you fifteen days of buffer. Another trap is letting your Rocks get buried by daily firefighting. To prevent this, your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ must be non-negotiable. During the meeting, you must review the status of every Rock. If a Rock is off track, do not ignore it or wait until the end of the quarter. Drop it down to the IDS® portion of your agenda immediately. Identify the root cause of why it is falling behind, solve the bottleneck, and assign clear action steps to get it back on track. By maintaining this weekly discipline, you prevent the mid-quarter slump and build a culture of consistent execution.