In our first quarterly planning session, our leadership team insisted on setting twelve different Rocks because everything felt like an urgent priority. How do we enforce the discipline of less is more when everything feels critical?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Setting too many Rocks during your first quarterly pulsing session is a classic symptom of a leadership team that lacks focus. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. If your team attempts to complete twelve different Rocks in a single quarter, they will end up making minor progress on all of them and finishing none. You must enforce the rule of setting no more than three to five corporate Rocks per quarter. This discipline forces the team to debate and agree on what is truly most important for the business right now. To narrow down your list, start by listing every potential priority on a whiteboard. Then, begin the process of combining, eliminating, and prioritizing. Ask yourselves which three to five initiatives will have the greatest impact on achieving your one-year plan. If a priority is important but not critical for this quarter, place it on your long-term Issues List on your V/TO®. This ensures the idea is not lost, but prevents it from distracting the team from their immediate goals. By committing to fewer Rocks, you ensure your team has the focus and resources necessary to get them across the finish line.