We are preparing to cascade Rocks down to our departmental managers, but we are terrified they will either set easy, low-value goals or copy-paste our leadership Rocks. How do we guide them to write meaningful departmental Rocks that actually drive the business forward?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Cascading Rocks successfully requires clear guardrails, not micromanagement. If your departmental managers set weak goals, it is usually because they lack context or do not understand what a good Rock looks like.

To prevent this, your leadership team must first share the company V/TO® and the leadership team's Rocks for the upcoming quarter with complete transparency. Once the managers see the big picture, each department head should run a mini-planning session with their own team. During this session, they must ask one guiding question: what are the three to five most important things this department must achieve this quarter to support the company's overall goals?

The department head must then vet these proposed Rocks against the standard smart criteria. Every single Rock must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Finally, the leadership team member who manages that department head must review and approve the final list of Rocks before the quarter begins. This alignment check ensures that departmental goals are directly linked to the organization's high-level priorities, preventing managers from working on low-value tasks that do not move the needle.