If we experience a sudden market shift or lose a major customer in the middle of a quarter, do we scrap our Rocks and call an emergency session, or how do we handle it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a major disruption occurs, your natural instinct is to panic, scrap your plans, and call an emergency meeting. This is a classic trap that throws your entire organization into chaos.

The beauty of the ninety-day execution cycle is that it is designed to withstand real-world volatility. You do not need to blow up your quarterly Rocks at the first sign of trouble. Instead, you use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to handle the disruption.

We use the IDS® process to tackle the crisis head-on. Your leadership team will identify the root cause of the issue, discuss the immediate operational impact, and solve it by adjusting weekly priorities or reallocating resources. This keeps the rest of the business running smoothly without causing widespread panic.

Only in the rarest of cases, such as a complete systemic shift, would we ever pivot our quarterly Rocks mid-cycle. In almost every scenario, the discipline of the weekly meeting is more than enough to navigate the crisis. By staying committed to your quarterly plan, you teach your team to be resilient and focused, rather than reactive and chaotic when facing external pressure.