We are in our first ninety days of EOS® and our Visionary keeps bringing shiny new opportunities to our weekly meetings, which is distracting the team from our newly set Rocks. How do we protect our execution cycle?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In your first ninety days, building execution muscle is your absolute priority. A Visionary naturally generates great ideas, but injecting them mid-quarter into your execution cycle will derail your team and cause your new operating system to fail.

To protect your focus, use the V/TO® and the Issues List as your operational shields. When the Visionary introduces a new idea during a weekly Level 10 Meeting™, the Integrator must immediately capture it on the long-term Issues List on the V/TO®.

This acknowledges the idea without allowing it to distract from active quarterly Rocks. Teach your Visionary to respect this boundary:
- Every new strategic idea is parked on the long-term Issues List.
- No new projects are kicked off mid-quarter unless they solve a critical, business-threatening issue.
- During your next quarterly planning session, the entire leadership team will review the long-term Issues List and decide if the idea fits into the next ninety-day plan.

This gives the Visionary confidence that their ideas are not lost, while protecting the leadership team from chasing shiny objects. Ninety days of focused execution is non-negotiable for building Traction®.