A department head wants to rewrite or abandon their quarterly Rocks mid-quarter during our Level 10 Meeting, arguing that changing market conditions have made their original goals irrelevant. How do we handle this request without destroying our quarterly accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Allowing leaders to rewrite or abandon their quarterly Rocks mid-quarter is a dangerous practice that undermines your entire accountability structure. Rocks are your most important priorities for the ninety-day cycle. If you allow the team to change their goals whenever conditions shift, you establish a culture where commitments are meaningless.

When a department head requests a change to their Rocks during a Level 10 Meeting™, you must address this request during the IDS® portion of the meeting using a strict set of criteria.

Use this process to evaluate and handle the request:
- Drop the request to the Issues List and discuss it fully during IDS®.
- Ask if the market shift represents a true company-wide emergency or simply a difficult challenge. If it is not a survival-level threat, the Rock must stand.
- If the Rock is truly no longer relevant, do not rewrite it. Instead, officially mark it as off-track or killed. This maintains historical accuracy and prevents goal-post shifting.
- Do not replace the killed Rock with a new one. The leader should focus their extra capacity on supporting other team Rocks or driving their weekly Scorecard metrics.

By refusing to rewrite Rocks, you force your leaders to think more critically during quarterly planning. This discipline ensures that your team remains focused on long-term traction rather than reacting constantly to weekly noise.