Our leadership team has missed more than half of our quarterly Rocks for two consecutive quarters, and we are starting to treat missed Rocks as normal. How do we diagnose the systemic failure behind our execution without creating a culture of blame?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Missing Rocks for two quarters in a row is an operational emergency. It means your quarterly planning is disconnected from your daily execution, and your team is losing respect for the commitments they make.

To diagnose this failure, you must look at three potential root causes. First, examine your Rock definition. Are you setting Rocks that are too vague, or are they actually massive projects masquerading as ninety-day goals? A good Rock must be specific, measurable, and realistic. If you cannot define the exact finish line on day one, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Second, look at your capacity. Are your leaders overloaded with daily operational tasks? If a department head is working sixty hours a week just to keep the lights on, they will never have the time to complete a strategic Rock. You may need to adjust your Accountability Chart to give them more support.

Third, check your weekly Level 10 Meeting. Are you using the meeting to track progress on Rocks? If a Rock is off-track, it must be dropped down to the Issues List and solved using IDS.

Do not let your team normalize missed Rocks. If a leader misses their Rock, hold a hard conversation to find out why. If they consistently fail to deliver, you must evaluate if they actually have the capacity to sit in that leadership seat.