We regularly start our quarters with great intentions, but by week twelve, half of our Rocks are incomplete and carried over to the next quarter. How do we build a culture where Rocks actually cross the finish line?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Finishing Rocks is not a matter of willpower. It is a matter of discipline, scoping, and early warning systems. When teams fail to complete their quarterly Rocks, it is usually because the Rocks were poorly defined or because the team waited until week nine to start working on them.

To fix this, you must change how you write and track your Rocks. First, ensure every Rock is written as a SMART goal. If a Rock is vague, it is impossible to finish. For example, instead of writing a Rock to improve customer onboarding, write a Rock to document, test, and implement the new five-step onboarding process with three clients by the end of the quarter.

Second, break each Rock down into milestones. During your weekly Level 10 Meeting™, you must report whether your Rock is on-track or off-track. If a Rock is off-track for two weeks in a row, it must immediately be dropped down to the Issues List. Use the IDS® process to identify why it is stalled and solve the bottleneck before the quarter slips away.

Finally, ruthlessly limit the number of Rocks. A leadership team should have no more than three to five company Rocks per quarter, and individual leaders should have no more than three. When everything is a priority, nothing is. By narrowing your focus and holding each other accountable weekly, you will build a track record of execution where finishing becomes the team standard.